Turki Al-Sheikh wants tonight’s David Benavidez vs. David Morrell winner to challenge the winner of the February 22nd rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol next.
Turki’s Plan
According to Ring, Turki wants the Benavidez-Morrell winner to be ringside for the Beterbiev vs. Bivol II contest at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That would help create more interest in the fights.
It had already been reported that the Benavidez-Morrell victor would challenge the winner of the Beterbiev-Bivol 2 winner, but now Turki has confirmed that’s what will happen.
Can Bivol Spoil Things?
There’s no word whether Al-Sheikh’s plans will change if Bivol defeats Beterbiev because that would be a trilogy fought, an obvious one to make. It would sap much of the interest in their rivalry if Bivol moved on to face the Benavidez-Morrell winner.
Given how the last fight played out, Bivol has a very good chance of winning the rematch with the 40-year-old Beterbiev. An immediate trilogy between them makes more sense than having Bivol defend against the Benavidez vs. Morrell winner and get beaten by them.
If that happens, the Beterbiev-Bivol trilogy wouldn’t be riveting for many fans. It would be viewed as two aging former champions. Bivol is 34 and looks his age.
For business purposes, David Benavidez must win tonight’s fight against WBA regular light heavyweight champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Benavidez has many Mexican fans in the U.S. and Mexico. He’s been fighting professionally longer than the Cuban Morrell and is better known by casual boxing fans in the States.
Benavidez’s Biggest Test
Benavidez is a basic fighter who has gotten over by fighting outside of his weight class at 168, and he’s just used his size and punch volume to win against fighters long in the tooth. It’s been the perfect hustle for the ‘Mexican Monster.’
Benavidez has been doing what Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. did earlier in his career. It’s a weight-bullying strategy that younger fighters can get away with, and there are no safeguards in place with rehydration clauses across the board to protect fighters from being victims of this.
When Chavez Jr. was at his best from 2009 to 2014, he was melting down in weight to compete against much smaller fighters at middleweight. He would rehydrate, look like a light heavyweight inside the ring, and crush them on size.
Chavez Jr. captured a middleweight world title this way and made millions, setting himself up on easy street for the rest of his life.
Benavidez is the same type of fighter, which would explain why he looked poor in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th last year. Even against the 37-year-old Gvozdyk, Benavidez looked average at light heavyweight. That’s why tonight’s fight is a 50-50 one because Morrell is the same size as Benavidez, but with more power and talent.
