David Benavidez’s fight against former WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell brought in between 150,000 to 160,000 PPV buys on PBC on Prime Video at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
@DanRafael1 is reporting the PPV numbers for the Benavidez-Morrell fight, which were surprisingly good for an event that was priced at $79.95. That’s a steep price compared to how low the Riyadh Season events are sold. Benavidez got marked by the heavy punches from Morrell, and was lucky that he didn’t suffer any significant cuts during the action.
It’s unclear whether the success of the event was due to the ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) alone or a combination of the Cuban Morrell and a couple of the undercard fights.
Benavidez defeated Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision with the scores 118-108, 115-111, and 115-111. It was a close fight in reality, but Benavidez’s body punching and his pressure were the differences.
If Benavidez can defeat the winner of the February 22nd fight between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, his popularity will go through the roof. He won’t need to keep pressuring Canelo Alvarez and sounding obsessed with him.
There’s a good chance that Beterbiev will be the one that Benavidez faces for the four belts, and that’s going to be interesting to see how he deals with his power. He won’t be able to enjoy the same success on the inside against Beterbiev as he did against Morrell because he fights well in close.
We don’t know yet of how soon Benavidez will get a chance to fight for the belts. It may require that he take a tune-up if Beterbiev-Bivol chooses to fight a trilogy.
The Undercard
Brandon Figueroa vs. Stephen Fulton Jr.
Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz vs. Angel Fierro
Jesus Ramorez Jr. vs. Jeison Rosario
Curmel Moton vs. Frank Zaldivar
Jose Ramirez Jr. vs. Danny Rosenberger
Last Updated on 02/08/2025
