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David Benavidez did his job, beating Oleksandr Gvozdyk by a round unanimous decision to win the WBC interim light heavyweight title last weekend in Las Vegas.
The fight wasn’t particularly exciting to watch, as he was fighting an older guy, 37-year-old Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs), who’d only recently come out of retirement and wasn’t the same fighter he’d been five years ago.
The WBC’s Dubious Eliminator
That was a WBC-created eliminator, and it wasn’t an ideal one because Benavidez should have been fighting David Morrell for that position, not Gvozdyk. The WBC might as well have given Benavidez the interim title because they didn’t make it hard for him by ordering him to face a younger fighter.
Benavidez’s performance, which many feel was poor, wasn’t enough to where he proved himself worthy of fighting for the undisputed light heavyweight championship or getting a fight against superstar Canelo Alvarez.
Based on that performance, Benavidez isn’t worthy of fighting for the grand prize at 175, and he doesn’t deserve a chance to fight Canelo either.
Fans want Benavidez to face David Morrell next in a real, true fight to earn a title shot against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight.
The 26-year-old Morrell (10-0, 9 KO) is fighting for the vacant WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight crown against Radivoje Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs) on August 3rd at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Is Benavidez Avoiding Morrell?
If Morrell wins that fight, which he’s expected to easily, he’s the one Benavidez needs to face with the winner to contest for the undisputed championship at 175. Many people believe Benavidez is avoiding Morrell and is just trying to get a payday that he doesn’t rate.
Benavidez likely won’t agree to fight Morrell because it’s too risky, and he’s in the catbird seat as the WBC mandatory to champion Beterbiev’s belt. He’s not expected to agree to face Morrell and put his position on the line in a fight that he would have an excellent chance of losing.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh could make it worthwhile for Benavidez to take that fight with Morrell, settling up a situation where the boxing public could see a real eliminator and not one that the WBC created like we saw last Saturday night with Benavidez fighting Gvozdyk. That shouldn’t have been an eliminator.
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