A light heavyweight war involving David Benavidez and David Morrell “is going to happen” in the future, says Bob Santos who has worked with both fighters.
World Boxing News caught up with Santos this week at his Pound For Pound boxing club in Las Vegas.
The 2022 Boxing Trainer of the Year worked Morrell’s corner for the Cuban boxer’s recent win over ‘Hot Rod’ Radivoje Kalajdzic, assisting Ronnie Shields.
Morrell defeated Kalajdzic by decision, a result which advanced his pro boxing record to 11 wins (9 KOs) but brought to an end a knockout run that stretched back to 2020 — his third fight.
“We give Hot Rod a lot of credit,” Santos told us. “He’s a talented fighter, really long, and he’s been in that weight class for quite a while.”
“This was David’s first fight at 175, he won 9 out of the 12 rounds, and became a two-time world champion, in two different weight classes, in 11 pro fights.
“Even in the new weight class, David hurt him a couple times, around the third round he hit him with a good shot. I talked to Hot Rod after the fight and he admitted as much that David had hurt him a couple times.
“I think two things happened. David started looking for the knockout too much, and it’s hard when a guy doesn’t want to get into an exchange, going into survival mode.”
The Kalajdzic win becomes one of Morrell’s best, alongside his knockouts over Sena Agbeko, and Aidos Yerbossynuly — both at super middleweight.
It was at super middleweight where Morrell’s name became linked to David Benavidez, who is a stablemate of his at Premier Boxing Champion.
Benavidez has since gone on to secure big bouts against Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade, and won both in brutal fashion.
Benavidez then tested the waters at 175 earlier in the summer and, like Morrell, did not look as devastating as he previously had even though he comfortably defeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
The Mexican fighter has been campaigning for a super-fight against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez but the pound-for-pound stalwart has, thus far, rebuffed any advances.
It begs the question as to whether Morrell could become a viable option for Benavidez, as both become acquainted with life at light heavyweight.
“There’s a fight that’s going to happen,” Santos told WBN. “There’s no two ways about it.”
He then called for calm when it came to any criticism regarding either Benavidez’s debut at the weight, or Morrell’s.
“Again, if you look at Benavidez, there’s people probably saying he’s not the monster we thought he was. Well, he’s in his first fight at 175! He fought a really, really good guy and, for the most part, he dominated the fight.
“Let’s be realistic, you’re not going to knock everybody out. We’ve got to stop [knee-jerk reactions] and judge over a period of time.”
It appears Santos has judged both Morrell and Benavidez over a period of time, and tipped Morrell “obviously” as “the better athlete.”
He said: “I think he’s got the faster feet, fast hands, and he’s long.”
Alan Dawson is World Boxing News Lead Writer, a 2 x Sports Journalist of the Year finalist, and 5 x BWAA awards winner. Furthermore, follow Alan @AlanDawsonSport.
