David Morrell Jr. has put David Benavidez on notice by demanding that they face each other next.
Speculation first emerged that a fight had been agreed upon following Benavidez’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz’s comments.
“We have an agreement. This is the plan. We are with the same network. It’s easy to get an agreement,” Lewkowicz
Although that may have been the case, those comments were backtracked on by Benavidez and his father, Jose Benavidez Sr.
Benavidez Sr. favored Jaime Munguia or Dmitry Bivol at 175 lbs as the next possible opponents, while Benavidez favored Mungia.
“In the future, it will be a big fight, too, but we’ll take him right now. But I think Munguia has the people.
“If that doesn’t happen, I would love to do the revenge against [Dmitry] Bivol,” Jose Benavidez Sr.
“We want to fight Jaime Munguia. He came up to 168. I think that would be a great fight.
“Two big names, but if we can’t get him, we’ll probably do Morrell. There’s a lot of fake news out there. If it doesn’t come from me, it’s not official,” Benavidez
Fighting Munguia or Bivol would be a lower risk for Benavidez, while facing Morrell Jr. could be damaging, as a loss to someone who has had only nine fights would make it harder to rebuild.
In contrast, losing to the undefeated Mexican, Mungia, (42-0 with 33KOs), would be no shame.
Meanwhile, Bivol offers Benavidez the opportunity to become a two-division champion, and even if Benavidez loses, he can still keep his position at 168 lbs.
And yet, Morrell has come out to put the pressure on Benavidez.
“I want to fight Benavidez, 100%. Like my team is ready for the fight, and we’re ready for him. I’m so excited for the fight. It’s a big opportunity for me.
“I think like November is fight. I wait for you. I’m ready. Do you want to fight? I’m here…I’m ready for Benavidez. “Maybe [he is scared],” Morrell Jr.