Benavidez-Morrell in the works for January

There could be fireworks in the light-heavyweight division early next year

Shaun Brown

Benavidez-Morrell in the works for January
Benavidez made his move to 175lbs after failing to land a fight against Canelo at 168lbs. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)

NEXT year could start with a bang if David Benavidez is to be believed.

The light-heavyweight contender announced on social media that his next fight will be against David Morrell.

A potential fight of the year contender before a punch has been thrown Benavidez and Morrell have 40 fights between them with 33 of those opponents not hearing the final bell.

Both men moved to the 175lbs division this year after failing to land a fight against super-middleweight king Canelo Alvarez. In his first outing at light-heavy Benavidez decisioned Oleksandr Gvozdyk over 12 rounds while Morrell out-pointed Radivoje Kalajdzic.

There has been no official confirmation or announcement but Benavidez wrote last night, “There was a lot of names on the table but I wanted to give my fans the best fight possible.

Morrell has been touted as future world champion. (Picture By Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing)

“I reached out to David Morrell and his team to make this happen and we got the contract done. This fight really gonna be a banger!!! Two of the best in the division and two titles (WBC interim and WBA regular) on the line.

“Date and location to be announced shortly.”

Morrell also acknowledged the fight with a bunch of posts via Instagram Stories.

ESPN reported overnight that the bout will headline a PBC pay-per-view card which is expected to take place on January 25 in Las Vegas.

Veteran scribe Dan Rafael also wrote that a rematch between WBA super-lightweight champion Jose Valenzuela and Isaac Cruz is in the works for the co-feature slot.

Should the fight take place the winner will put themselves into a great position to face the victor of Saturday’s undisputed clash between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

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