heavyweight title boxing match Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
David Benavidez and David Morrell went to war on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Benavidez prevailed via unanimous decision (115-111×2, 118-108) in one of the most action-packed fights you’ll probably see in 2025.
Both men had their moments in the fight, but Benavidez outlanded Morrell in all but two of the rounds. He launched an all-out assault on his opponent’s body, landing more than twice the punches that Morrell connected with in that region. Benavidez was also more accurate with his power shots, landing 48% of them over the 12 rounds.
Morrell did score the only knockdown of the fight. It happened in the 11th round when he clipped Benavidez with a sweeping right hand that connected while the latter was off balance.
Benavidez wasn’t hurt, but it still counted as a legal knockdown because both of his gloves touched the canvas.
Unfortunately for Morrell, that point was quickly negated as he was penalized for landing a punch after the bell. The referee was a bit overzealous with that decision. Benavidez was the one who initiated the punching after the bell. Morrell’s punch was a response. However, it appeared to do more damage, and the referee’s action was seemingly based on the cleanness of the punch.
In the end, it wouldn’t have mattered. By that time, Morrell was so far behind on all three judges’ scorecards that the single point wouldn’t have affected the result.
After the fight, multiple people from the boxing world took to social media to react to the fight and praise Benavidez and Morrell’s efforts.
Morrell appeared to have the speed advantage, but Benavidez’s defense, work rate, and punching accuracy proved to be the difference. Morrell allowed Benavidez to enjoy too many long stretches of attack without worrying about anything coming back his way.
Morrell was content to cover up, wait his turn, and fight in short bursts that were too few and far between.
That said, Morrell showed he has great heart and an outstanding chin. If he takes time to recover from this physical battle, he should still have success in the light heavyweight division.
Benavidez looked like a pound-for-pound contender. His combination of power shots, level changes, defense, and forward pressure will give anyone in his weight division a problem. He looks like the right guy to challenge the winner of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol II, which is scheduled for February 22 for the undisputed title at 175 pounds.
At this point in Benavidez’s career, very few other fights make sense for him. He chased a fight with Canelo Alvarez for more than a year to no avail. To Benavidez’s credit, he has continued to push forward with his career, and he looked as good on Saturday as he ever has.
What’s Next in Boxing?
On Sunday, Claressa Shields will attempt to become the undisputed heavyweight champion as she takes on Danielle Perkins in Flint, Michigan. Here is a look at the rest of the upcoming boxing schedule over the next 60 days.
Sunday, February 2, 2025
- WBO World Heavyweight Championship: Claressa Shields vs. Danielle Perkins
- Location: Dort Federal Event Center, Flint, US
- Time: 8:00 PM (ET)
Saturday, February 8, 2025
- Dereck Chisora vs. Otto Wallin
- Location: Co-Op Live Arena, Manchester, GB
- Time: 2:00 PM (ET)
Friday, February 14, 2025
- WBO World Lightweight Championship: (c) Denys Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn Davis
- Xander Zayas vs. Slawa Spomer
- Vito Mielnicki vs. Connor Coyle
- Jared Anderson vs. Marios Kollias
- Abdullah Mason vs. Manuel Jaimes
- Location: The Theater at MSG, New York City, US
- Time: 8:00 PM (ET)
Saturday, February 15, 2025
- Jack Catterall vs. Arnold Barboza
- Location: Co-Op Live Arena, Manchester, GB
- Time: Noon (ET)
- Oscar Duarte vs. Regis Prograis
- Honda Center, Anaheim, California, US
- Time: 8 PM (ET)
Saturday, February 22, 2025
- The Ring, WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF Light Heavyweight Championship: (c) Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol
- IBF Heavyweight Championship: (c) Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker
- WBC Lightweight Championship (c) Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield
- WBC Middleweight Championship (c) Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov
- Joshua Buatsi vs. Callum Smith
- Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel
- Location: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, SA
- Time: Noon (ET)
Monday, February 24, 2025
- WBC World Bantamweight Championship: (c) Junto Nakatani vs. David Cuellar Contreras
- Location: Ariake Arena, Tokyo, JP
- Time: 2:00 AM (ET)
Saturday, March 1, 2025
- WBA World Lightweight Championship: (c) Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr.
- Location: Barclays Center, New York City, US
- Time: 8:00 PM (ET)
Friday, March 7, 2025
- The Ring Welterweight Championship: (c) Natasha Jonas vs. Lauren Price
- Location: Royal Albert Hall, London, GB
- Time: 1:00 PM (ET)
Saturday, March 15, 2025
- WBA World Featherweight Championship: (c) Nick Ball vs. TJ Doheny
- Location: M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, GB
- Time: 1:00 PM (ET)
Sunday, March 16, 2025
- Callum Walsh vs. Dean Sutherland
- Location: The Theater at MSG, New York City, US
- Time: 9:00 PM (ET)
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