Chris Algieri is leaning toward David Benavidez beating David Morrell at 175 in early 2025. He feels that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is the bigger guy at light heavyweight than Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), who holds the WBA ‘regular’ 175-lb title.
At 168, Algieri feels that Morrell would potentially win because of the difficulties that Benavidez has in getting down to that weight. The two fighters are expected to meet on January 25th in a clash that still has yet to be made official.
Benavidez, 27, recently made his debut at 175, defeating former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk by a 12-round unanimous decision on June 15th to win the interim World Boxing Council belt.
He didn’t look great in the debut, running out of gas after six rounds and taking a lot of heavy shots from Gvozdyk in rounds 7 through 12. If Benavidez fights like that against Morrell, he might get knocked out because he punches harder than Gvozdyk and will be hitting him with massive shots.
“I probably favor Benavidez because it’s at 175. If it was at 168, I may favor Morrell,” said Chris Algieri to Inside Boxing Live on the David Morrell vs. David Benavidez fight in early 2025. “I think David Benavidez struggling to get down to 168 took a little bit out of him, even though he had the advantage of being the bigger guy. I think Morrell was perfect for 168. Such an incredible physique for that weight class. The power, the length, all of that.
Benavidez-Morrell will be at 175, not 168, because both guys have given up on the super middleweight division because there are more opportunities for interesting fights in the light heavyweight division. Canelo Alvarez is doing other things with his career at 168 and never showed any interest in fighting Benavidez or Morrell.
Morrell could be a problem for Benavidez at 175 if he can increase his work rate from what he showed in his debut in the division against Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic on August 3rd. The unbeaten Morrell was losing up on single shots and not taking advantage of the numerous times he hurt Kalajdzic because he wasn’t putting his punches together in combination form.
The fight ended up being harder than it should have been for Morrell because of that on the positive side. Benavidez picked Morrell because he looked bad, and he wouldn’t have got the fight against him if he’d shined against Hotrod.
“I think at 175, I would favor Benavidez. At 168, I may favor Morrell. He is fantastic,” said Algieri, “Regardless, this fight, whatever weight class that it happens at, it’s a very tough fight. It’s a very close fight. I’m very happy it’s on the docket. I can’t wait until we get there because you never know in this sport. It’s an exciting time that we’ve got these young guys fighting each other.”
If Morrell wins, there will be a lot of fans dumping on Benavidez for taking this fight when he didn’t have to. He could have just waited for his mandatory title shot against WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
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