A drained-looking WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr. weighed in at 167.6 lbs, and his heathier-looking opponent Sena Agbeko came in at 167 on Friday at the weigh-in for their headliner this Saturday night on Showtime Boxing’s final broadcast on December 16th at The Armory in Minneapolis. The event begins at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT.
This is expected to be a slam dunk victory for the 25-year-old Cuban Morrell (9-0, 8 KOs) over Agbeko (28-2, 22 KOs), who has got the fight because David Benavidez reportedly turned it down.
An impressive knockout win for Morrell will help build his name with the U.S. fans and position him to eventually get a bigger fight against Canelo Alvarez, Jermall Charlo, or Caleb Plant.
Those three would likely be more willing to fight him than Benavidez, who is playing it safe at this stage of his career, not wanting to risk losing out on a payday against Canelo.
Morrell being scouted
Some feel up to taking on Morrell and risking his slot position to fight Canelo Alvarez next year. Morrell would like nothing better than to defeat Benavidez and be the one to face Canelo in September 2024, but he won’t get the chance. The Mexican Monster didn’t want to take the risk.
David Benavidez’s father, Jose Benavidez Sr., will be present at the event for his fighter, Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela (12-2, 8 KOs), who will be taking on Chris Colbert (17-1, 6 KOs) in WBA lightweight title eliminator in the co-feature bout.
Those will also be a scouting run for Benavidez Sr. to look over Morrell to see if he can spot weakness in his game that his son, David, can exploit. If Jose Sr. sees enough weakness in Morrell, perhaps he’ll allow his son to fight him.
‘Rayo’ Valenzuela weighed in at 134 lbs, while Colbert came in at 134.6 lbs for the rematch of their fight last March. Colbert won that fight by a narrow 10 round unanimous decision in a fight that many felt that Rayo should have won.
Weigh-in results
David Morrell Jr. 167.6 vs. Sena Agbeko 167
Chris Colbert 134.6 vs. Jose Valenzuela 134
Robert Guerrero 148.2 vs. Andre Berto 148.2
Alberto Puello 143 vs. Ector Madera 143.2
Kyrone Davis 161.4 vs. Cruse Stewart 160
Lawrence King 182.2 vs. Alex Theran 182.4
“For sure, David Morrell is a very good fighter. He’s a dangerous fighter. He was an Olympian, and he’s doing great,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to Fighthype. “Look at him, look where he’s at.
“I’ll tell you right now if David [Benavidez] fights him. If [Stephen] Espinoza [of Showtime] had given us before, we could have knocked him out in six or seven rounds,” said Jose Sr., believing that his son Benavidez could have stopped Morrell if they’d fought earlier in his career but now he’s not interested in matching his son against him.
Benavidez and Jose Sr. turned down the fight with Morrell, so it’s difficult to take Benavidez Sr. seriously. If Benavidez was capable of beating Morrell, he wouldn’t have turned down a fight with him in favor of fighting 35-year-old prospect Demetrius Andrade.
“Yeah, he is a great fighter. He’s getting better and better every time,” said Jose Sr. “Sooner or later, we’re going to face him. He’s doing great. He’s going to continue doing good. I’m cheering for him to win in order to make that fight happen.
Valenzuela vs. Colbert 2 rematch in co-feature
“Great fight [Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela vs. Chris Colbert], great card tomorrow. I see a lot of great fighters there. We have Jose Valenzuela fighting. He’s the co-main event with the rematch with Chris Colbert, so we’re excited.”
Rayo & Colbert have moved up from super featherweight, looking to get bigger paydays at lightweight. The winner of the fight will be in a position to challenge for a world title, be it against Gervonta Davis or whoever emerges as the champion once Devin Haney vacates.
“It’s a great fight. I think this fight is going to steal the show because these guys hate each other,” said Benavidez Sr. “Every f**** round, they’re going to try and win it. Whoever wins this fight is going to the next level. It’s a ‘WBA lightweight] title eliminator, and for sure, whoever wins is going to get a chance to fight for a world title.
“That division [135] is stacked with a lot of great fighters, and anybody that we choose at that weight, it’s going to be exciting,” said Jose Sr.
