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David Morrell confirms Benavidez fight discussions

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Image: David Morrell Confirms Benavidez Fight Discussions

Indefinite WBC featherlight heavyweight champion David Morrell has confirmed on social media that he is in talks to fight interim WBC champion David Benavidez.

If the two undefeated 175-pound novices, Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) and Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs), agree to a deal, the fight could take place in December. That would put the winner in a spot where he could fight for the undisputed championship in 2025 against the winner of the Oct. 12 fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Morrell, 26, is a younger, stronger and technically gifted fighter than Benavidez, but lacks the experience he does have. If the Cuban Morrell adjusts his game to improve his needy striking output, Benavidez will likely lose this fight by knockout. The difference in power between Morrell and Benavidez is huge. I suspect Benavidez didn’t eat his Wheaties growing up.

Although Morrell has only fought 11 times as a pro, he has a lot of experience as an amateur in Cuba, which puts him ahead of Benavidez. He has fought much better fighters in the amateurs than the opponents Benavidez has fought in the pros, which are mostly older guys like Demetrius Andrade and Anthony Dirrell.

Morrell is a much better puncher than him and has a style more suited to the 175-pound division. Benavidez, 27, is a fish out of water in the featherlight heavyweight division and is no longer the fearsome puncher he was at 168, where he had a size advantage over his smaller prey.

If Benavidez loses to Morrel, it will reinforce in the minds of the fans that he was always just weight tyrant from day one. He would be seen as another example of a juvenile fighter cheating the system by fighting in a weight class below his size.

Benavidez has been a professional fighter for longer and has defeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Demetrius Andrade, Caleb Plant, David Lemieux and Anthony Dirrell.

Benavidez’s high volume of strikes could potentially cause Morrell problems, as he throws a lot of punches in a machine gun style, overwhelming opponents with shots. In Benavidez’s 175-pound debut last June against Gvozdyk, he outnumbered him.

Gvozdyk was the stronger boxer and landed the cleaner punches in each round, but Benavidez’s high efficiency allowed him to claim the victory.

Morrell punches much harder than Benavidez, but he may have volume issues if he doesn’t improve that part of his game by the time they fight. That’s what Morrell lacked in his last fight with

Radivoje Kalajdzic on Aug. 3 on the undercard of the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov fight at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Morrell hurt former Artur Beterbiev knockout victim Kalajdzic several times in their 12-round fight, but was unable to take him down because he focused on landing single punches rather than throwing a series of punches the way Benavidez would.

If Morrell had more experience and adjusted his game, he would have easily knocked out Kalajdzic, as he appeared early on in this fight and often.

The punches Morrell landed seemed to be harder than the ones knockout champion Beterbiev landed five years earlier, during their 2019 clash. The difference was that Beterbiev didn’t let up or leisurely down once he had Kalajdzic in trouble, as Morrell did.

A Morrell win in this fight will likely put a huge smile on Canelo Alvarez’s face, as Benavidez has been relentless in his pursuit of him over the last few years. Benavidez has been pushing like crazy trying to get the fight, at times seeming fixated on getting that substantial payday.

It would be really humorous if Morrell was the one who ended up winning the fight with Canelo instead of Benavidez. That would be humorous and suggest that karma works. Morrell didn’t harass Canelo like Benavidez did.

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Boxing

The Miyo Yoshida – Shurretta Metcalf II fight will take place on October 23

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Miyo Yoshida vs Shurretta Metcalf

Professional boxing returns to the theater at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, October 23, when DiBella Entertainment presents “Heroes on the Hudson 2” to honor and support our heroic veterans of the United States Armed Forces ahead of Veterans Day.

Aimed to raise money and awareness for veteran veterans’ charities, the main attraction of the latest edition of Broadway Boxing will be a world title fight in which IBF bantamweight champion Miyo Yoshida will defend her belt in a rematch with Shurretta Metcalf.

“On October 23 at the Madison Square Garden Theater, we will once again honor our veterans with ‘Heroes on the Hudson 2’ to support generate much-needed awareness and funds for military charities. The first ‘Heroes on the Hudson’ event, held at the Edison Ballroom in Times Square, was such a huge success that this time we had to move it to a larger venue,” said Lou DiBella, president of DiBella Entertainment. “Last year the main attraction was the return of the former world champion. The main event of this year’s edition will be a fascinating world title fight between two talented, hard-working single mothers, champion Miyo Yoshida and deserving #1 title challenger Shurretta Metcalf. This will be the beginning of the Gigantic Eight Tournament, the aim of which will be to determine the undisputed women’s bantamweight world champion.

“Heroes on the Hudson 2” is proudly sponsored by CAVU Securities and Morgan Stanley. Businesses interested in purchasing available sponsorship packages can contact DiBella Entertainment at (212) 947-2577.

Tickets for “Heroes On The Hudson 2” are on sale now, priced at $182, $157, $82 and $57, and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com. The theater doors at Madison Square Garden will open at 7:00 PM ET on the night of the event, with the first fight scheduled for 7:30 PM ET.

A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the following veteran-related causes:

The West Point Society of Fresh York provides camaraderie and support to graduates and former cadets of the United States Military Academy.

Merging Vets & Players is an organization that connects veterans with the sports community to support our heroes grow, connect and make a difference on the field and in their communities. For more information, visit vetsandplayers.org.

Project Headstrong provides free, confidential and accessible mental health care to members of the military community. More information can be found at theheadstrongproject.org.

Yoshida and Metcalf first met on November 7, 2023, as part of last year’s “Heroes on the Hudson” event. Metcalf won by unanimous decision that night, using her size and consistent jab to overtake Yoshida and claim the IBF Inter-Continental belt.

A month later, Yoshida was selected as a behind schedule replacement opponent in his fight against IBF world champion Ebanie Bridges in San Francisco. Yoshida, down 7-1 and with her daughter cheering from ringside, put in a dominant performance to take the title from the Australian in an action-packed 10-round fight. With the victory, she became a three-time world champion in two divisions. Yoshida twice held the WBO super flyweight world title.

Now Yoshida and Metcalf will do battle once again, each equally motivated to settle the score.

“I feel like taking revenge on Metcalf,” said Yoshida, of Kagoshima, Japan, who now lives in Fresh York. “Just a few weeks before the Ebanie fight, I joined the Sosa Crew and since then I have been training well with them. There’s a lot of pressure on me heading into the rematch, but I can’t wait to see how much I’ve developed over the last year.

Yoshida (17-4) promises that the rematch with Metcalf will have a different result.

“Last time, I didn’t have a detailed strategy,” she continued. “I couldn’t cope with unexpected movements. I thought it was a close fight. The result was a decision failure, but I learned the importance of scoring points. I burn with vengeance and I am sure I will win.”

Metcalf (13-4-1, 2 KO), from Dallas, Texas, is also looking forward to the rematch and is determined to win the world title.

“I’m very ecstatic,” Metcalf said. “It’s something I’ve worked tough for and I’m finally going to get the opportunity I’ve earned. I beat Yoshida last time and I will come out on top again and become world champion.

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Carl Froch wants Joshua to quit his practice squad

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Image: Carl Froch Wants Joshua to Dump His Training Team

Carl Froch believes Anthony Joshua has regressed in his career since changing coaches Rob McCracken in 2021 after his first defeat against Oleksandr Usyk. Froch says Joshua (28-4, 25 KO) needs a “rebuild” of his training team after losing to IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois by fifth-round knockout last Saturday night at Wembley Stadium.

Coach AJ, Ben Davisonhe reportedly had him throw two jabs and an uppercut in the fifth round against Dubois (22-2, 21 KO). Joshua followed up this attack and was knocked out by Dubois after being nailed with a counter right.

Froch doesn’t need to say it because after a performance like that, firing Ben Davison should be a no-brainer. The problem wasn’t just the instructions given to Joshua before the fifth round. Because Ben Davison is ship captainhe is the one who should be fired for pushing Joshua into the rocks.

This was the icing on the cake. The real problems were:

  • Passive combat in the first round: Joshua came out in the first round looking scared, running around the ring and being chased by Dubois. What the hell was Joshua doing? He doesn’t shy away from a slugger like Dubois because he’s faced these types of players throughout his career and knows how to deal with them.
  • Gaining weight: AJ gained weight in his upper body during training camp and that weight slowed him down, making him overly muscular. It was a stupid move.
  • Supporting China in the air: In the first round, Joshua retreated with his chin up, almost challenging Dubois to tag him.

“Ben Davison wanted AJ to look for an uppercut, which is a unsafe strike,” Carl Froch said in his canalspeaking about the promotion Anthony Joshua received from his trainer Ben Davison ahead of the fifth round of his fight against IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois last Saturday night at Wembley Stadium.

This is what Joshua gains by using Davison as his trainer instead of sticking with McCracken as his trainer. AJ should have stayed devoted to McCracken because he did a good job for him. Joshua wasn’t going to beat Usyk, regardless of who his trainer was. We saw this when AJ was defeated in his rematch and McCracken was no longer with him.

“When you throw your chin from a long distance, your chin stays exposed. That was the reason he lost that fight and got a terrible knockout. For me it is [Joshua] he went backwards. His condition is not improving,” Froch said.

Joshua has been in the sport long enough to know that it would be madness for him to throw an uppercut at a puncher as powerful as Dubois. Ideally, Joshua would have simply ignored what Davison told him and acted logically with an outside punch. Joshua could always fire him after the fight for such instructions and find someone good like McCracken.

“He had four ‘give me’ fights and now he faced a live opponent in Daniel Dubois, who can punch. This is why [instructions to throw an uppercut] in round five was a stupid idea,” Froch said.

Those four cans of tomatoes that promoter Eddie Hearn fed Joshua after his second loss to Usyk seemed to plant ideas in his head, making him think he could dominate Dubois like he did. What a mistake.

“He has regressed since leaving Rob McCracken and if he is to go forward and come back and have a rematch with Daniel Dubois, I don’t think he has the right team around him. He needs huge changes in the team,” Froch said.

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Boxing

Fight Night program – week from September 26 to October 2

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The weekend is coming and from Friday to Sunday there will be a “fight of the hour” somewhere in the world. Every Thursday, The Ring will bring you the latest information on the top fights you need to see in this condensed, streamlined fight week schedule. Our goal is to provide a quick checklist for those in the know and a handy guide to the most crucial information for the boxing novice.

Here are the most crucial fights of this week:

Friday, September 27 – Madison Square Garden Theatre, Fresh York

There is no love lost between these two. They’ve already set everything up nicely in a fiery press conference and vow to bring the heat to the ring as well. In a weekend ruled by women’s boxing, this fight may be the fight we remember most come December when we decide our annual awards. They have a lot of talent and power that goes hand in hand with mutual contempt, and that’s always a fun recipe. Don’t blink.

Also on this card: :

Where to watch it: ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+

Friday, September 27 – Lux Studios, Atlanta, Ga.

Baumgardner has come under close scrutiny after showing mixed results in several doping tests following her latest victory. She chose a hellish enemy from whom she wanted to clear her name. Persoon is a killer punch and a slightly sullied fighter who will not be afraid of a fierce competition with the current Ring champion. It won’t be pretty, but I guess we all like it that way, right?

Also on this card: :

Where to watch it: BrinxTV

Friday, September 27 – Park Community Arena, Sheffield, England

Where to watch it: DAZN

Friday, September 27 – York Hall, London

Friday, September 27 – Resorts Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City, Fresh Jersey

Saturday, September 28 – Park Community Arena, Sheffield, England

Where to watch it: DAZN

Saturday, September 28 – MHP Arena, Ludwigsburg, Germany

Where to watch it: DAZN

Saturday, September 28 – 2300 Arena in Philadelphia

Saturday, September 28 – Pacific Palms Resort, City of Industry, California.

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