The moving target of David Benavidez’s next fight has seemingly finally settled into sight, with an official connected to his showdown with fellow unbeaten light-heavyweight David Morrell telling BoxingScene Wednesday that the bout will occur February 1 as a Prime Video pay-per-view from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Benavidez 29-0 (24 KOs) was previously pegged for bouts December 14 and January 25. His move to fight Morrell caused the first shift, and his father/trainer Jose Benanavidez Snr’s work provoked the latest adjustment.
Jose Benavidez Snr also trains unbeaten, WBO top-ranked super-middleweight Diego Pacheco, 22-0 (18 KOs), who’s in negotiations to fight Trevor McCumby, 28-1 (21 KOs), January 25 at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Premier Boxing Champions will stage the Benavidez fight versus Morrell 11-0 (9 KOs) with the winner in position to land a bout against newly undisputed light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
Benavidez, who was bypassed as WBC super-middleweight mandatory challenger to Canelo Alvarez, is currently the WBC interim 175-pound champion and has been promised a shot at Beterbiev by the sanctioning body.
Meanwhile, Pacheco can affirm his position as WBO No. 1 to Alvarez after defeating Maciej Sulecki by sixth-round knockout Aug. 31 in his own DAZN main event in Carson, California.
Arizona’s McCumby produced an entertaining ninth-round TKO loss Sept. 14 versus former 168-pound champion Caleb Plant in Las Vegas.