As expected, WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez will face fellow unbeaten David Morrell atop a February 1st Prime PPV at T-Mobile Arena.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KO) is in line for a crack at the winner of Artur Beterbiev’s planned rematch against Dmitry Bivol, who may or may not stay undisputed depending on the IBF’s Michael Eifert demand, but is taking a genuine risk here against a fellow super middleweight emigrant. Though he was a bit shaky in his divisional debut against Radivoje Kalajdzic, Morrell (11-0, 9 KO) is a dazzling mix of speed and power when he’s on. I’ll be shocked if this isn’t a Fight of the Year frontrunner.
The undercard notably features a rematch between Brandon Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KO) and Stephen Fulton (22-1, 8 KO), who put on a show the first time around. This was supposed to land on next month’s Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach Jr show, but thankfully didn’t stay attached when that got bumped to March.
Also on tap is a fun-looking super lightweight slugfest between Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KO) and Angel Fierro (22-2-2, 17 KO), plus Jesus Ramos (21-1, 17 KO) against Jeison Rosario (24-4-2, 18 KO). Did you know Rosario isn’t even 30 yet? Wild.