There's a couple of cards on this upcoming weekend on DAZN and Showtime, but quite frankly, they don't really interest me all that much. Yeah, I'll get to them later, but what has really piqued my interest is the back-and-forthing that has taken place this week between the camps of David Benavidez and David Morrell, who hold versions of super middleweight titles.
Benavidez (who is the non-franchise champion for the WBC) has been yearning out the divisions undisputed champion, Canelo Alvarez, and supposedly sending out $50 million proposals. Morrell, who is the WBA non-super champion at 168, has been gearing towards a showdown with Benavidez.
Earlier in the week, Dan Rafael reported on his substack that an agreement for a Benavidez-Morrell showdown in the fall had been reached.
“We have an agreement. This is the plan,” Lewkowicz said to Rafael. “We are with the same network. It’s easy to get an agreement. I strongly believe it will be more competitive than it would be with (undisputed champion) Canelo Alvarez. I believe Canelo wouldn’t go past six rounds with Benavidez and with Morrell it’s a coin flip. It’s a great fight. I believe the most important thing is this is a great fight for the public.”
The only problem is that later on Benavidez would state that he had no knowledge of such a deal, and that he'd rather face the likes of Jaime Munguia. Ring IQ did a nice job in detailing this snafu on a recent video:
THE RELAY: Morrell blasts team Benavidez, No Morrell Benavidez wants Munguia, Munguia vs Ryder?
From Benavidez's perspective it's understandable. If you can't get the sports cash cow in Canelo, why would you rather than go to Morrell, who is a talented and hard-hitting southpaw Cuban, who has all of nine bouts (9-0, 8 KOs) under his belt. He is the very definition of 'high risk, low reward'. This fight makes a lot more sense for Morrell than Benavidez.
While Benavidez might be a bit too risky and dangerous for Canelo at this stage of his career. Well, the same may apply for Morrell as it relates to Benavidez, who is higher up on the pecking order of PBC. With the news that Benavidez had no real interest in facing him, hell hath no fury like Morrell scorned.
In what was one of the most memorable press releases that has ever landed in this email box, Morrell stated: “David Benavidez is a big bitch. His dad is a big fraud always talking like he’s some tough guy but he’s just a small man with little man complex. His brother wants to be gangster who talks a lot of shit but got knocked out by Crawford and did a horrible job in the move Creed. The Benavidez’ are a bunch of cowards.
"This is the guy you call The Mexican Monster? He’s a fraud. This is the guy everyone is building up. I see a fat insecure boy…that’s what I see. Benavidez couldn’t walk down any street in Cuba without getting his shoes taken. Funny he calls Canelo a duck, who's the duck now?"
(But outside of that, I'm sure he has great respect for Benavidez and his family.)
Shortly after defeating Caleb Plant a few months ago, Sampson Lewkowicz, who represents Benavidez, told anyone that would listen that Morrell was one of three future opponents that they would be facing in the near future but not Alvarez. Was his client truly ever on board with this plan?
And why would he then make this announcement if Benavidez had no knowledge of this impending assignment against Morrell? And just how real was their offer to Alvarez?
In the immortal words of Aretha Franklin: who's zoomin' who?
ARETHA
Speaking of Ms. Franklin, here is that iconic song:
Aretha Franklin - Who's Zoomin' Who? (Official Lyric Video)
SATURDAY NIGHT
OK, so about the fights on Saturday night. It will be interesting to see how much former junior middleweight champion, Julian Williams, has left in the tank, as he faces WBC interim middleweight titlist, Carlos Adames. If he still has his legs underneath him, his overall skills have a chance to make this into a pretty good bout. But Adames has the type of power and strength to push guys over the cliff.
Showtime
This is the headline bout from the Armory in Minneapolis, MN on Showtime. Also on this telecast is the return of 154 pound contender, Erickson Lubin, who faces veteran Luis Arias. This is Lubin's first outing since that frightful end to his contest versus Sebastian Fundora last April. Then IBF 115 champion, Fernando Martinez, defends his belt against Jade Bornea.
Meanwhile at the Theater at MSG on DAZN, Edgar Berlanga faces Jason Quigley in a super middleweight contest. This is Berlanga's first outing under the Matchroom Boxing umbrella, after parting ways with Top Rank. This is a match-up designed to get some of the mojo back for Berlanga who has looked pedestrian the past few fights. Since getting stopped by Demetrius Andrade in two in November of 2021, Quigley has fought just once, scoring a 10 round decision over Gabor Gorbics, who had a mark of 23-36-3, back in April.
Surely, Canelo isn't facing Berlanga in the fall, right?
3KR
The latest episode of 'the 3 Knockdown Rule' is up, and it was Hall-of-Famer, Tim Bradley, who joined Mario Lopez and myself for a spirited segment. Here is the YouTube link to the show:
THE 3 KNOCKDOWN RULE EP #006 MARIO LOPEZ & STEVE KIM | TIM BRADLEY IN STUDIO RYAN GARCIA OSCAR FEUD
And to subscribe to 3KR on your preferred podcast platform, here is the Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/3knockdownrule
