Chris Algieri believes WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr. can beat Canelo Alvarez right now, and understands why top dogs are avoiding him at 168.
Morrell will likely continue to be avoided and relegated to fighting unknown opponents until long after Canelo retires from the sport. He will have to become a star by defeating anonymous opponents for many years.
Obviously, Canelo is not going to consider a fight against Morrell at this point in his career, since he is not well known and very dangerous, and it would be a no-win situation for him.
Losing to Morrell would be disastrous for the Mexican superstar’s career and he would find it difficult to recover from that. Even if Canelo beats Morrell, she won’t be given credit because he’s an unknown.
Algieri was in awe of Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) after watching him dismantle Sena Agbeko in a second-round knockout on Showtime’s final boxing broadcast on December 16 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
José Benavidez Sr. wants Morrell to qualify
Morrell has been trying to earn a fight with Canelo by challenging David Benavidez to face him in the ring, but the ‘Mexican Monster’ and his father, José Benavidez Sr., have shown no interest in facing him for obvious reasons. He clearly sees the threat Morrell poses to Benavidez and wants to keep him as far away as possible.
Morrell’s manager, Luis Decubas, says Benavidez doesn’t want the fight and sees it as a matter of fear. Jose Sr. recently suggested that Morrell fight Benavidez leftover Caleb Plant, which is ridiculous.
Morrell, 25, who had a standout amateur career in Cuba, has quickly risen to the top of the professional rankings, capturing his WBA world title after just four fights.
Algieri: Morrell defeats Canelo
“David Morrell, that’s bad. [man]. He can fight, and I’ve been saying that for a while,” Chris Algieri told ProBox TV. “He is tall, long, has boxing skills, has power, has finishing instinct.
“He’s a very difficult guy to deal with and I think people will avoid him as much as possible,” Algieri continued of Morrell. “He’s the definition of high risk, low reward, because he’s not well known, he doesn’t have many fights.”
Algieri is right. There is little incentive for top 168-pound fighters like Canelo Alvarez, David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo or Caleb Plant to fight Morrell. They probably won’t fight him.
While Jose Sr. wants Morrell to fight Anthony Dirrell, Plant and Demetrius Andrade to qualify for a fight against his son, Benavidez or Canelo, it’s not realistic for any of those fighters to agree to fight him.
Unfortunately, by the time any of those guys agree to take him on, he’ll be done for and have nothing to offer you. Years from now, Morrell won’t get credit if he beats Plant, Andrade or Dirrell. At that point, Morrell would be doing them a favor by giving them a payday.
“You would be giving him a platform, one of those guys above him. Listen, he could beat anyone. He could beat Canelo. I could see it,” Chris Algieri said of David Morrell. “He has the skill, the ability and the size. I think he could beat anyone in the division.
“I’m not saying it will. I’d like to see him against those big guys, but he’s super talented and a very, very dangerous guy. I like what I see of him. He does what he’s supposed to do. We talked about that before.
You have a boy who doesn’t belong to you. In boxing you don’t get overpaid and Morrell didn’t take his time in that fight. He got him out of there,” Algieri said, speaking of Morrell’s second-round knockout victory over Sena Agbeko on December 16 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“He [Agbeko] He was a solid guy. He wasn’t a pushover, but he was a guy I definitely had to beat. But the way he [Morrell] destroyed it,” Algieri said.
It’s a shame that Showtime couldn’t have insisted that Morrell fight a better opponent for its final boxing broadcast, but it probably wasn’t an option. Nobody wants to fight Morrell, so Agbeko was as good as it gets.
“He left him lying against the ropes. It was very, very impressive. David Morrell is a bad guy and I would love to see him with all those other guys, but I don’t see people taking that risk anytime soon. Nobody raises their hand to fight a guy like David Morrell,” Algieri said.
Benavidez father throws cold water
“I think David Morrell is a good fighter, but I think they should put him with well-known guys who will take him into deep waters and see what he does,” José Benavidez Sr. told Fighthype, managing the Cuban talent. David Morrell away from his son, ‘The Mexican Monster’, David Benavidez.
José Sr. makes it clear that he is not willing to allow Benavidez to face the young lion Morrell and have his Canelo dream ruined with a possible defeat.
Benavidez has been trying to get that payday against Canelo for years, but he hasn’t been given the chance. If he fights Morrell, that could be the end of ‘The Mexican Monster,’ and his father, José Sr., seems to know it.
“He should fight Caleb Plant, Anthony Dirrell or even Boo Boo Andrade. That is the only way he will be qualified to see,” Benavidez Sr. said, making it clear that he does not want Morrell to fight his son.
Morrell would jump at the chance to fight any of those fighters mentioned above, but why would they agree to face him? Of course, if the Saudis were interested in seeing Morrell fight Plant, Dirrell or Andrade, those fights could happen, but why would they happen?
If they pick someone to face Morrell, it would be Benavidez or Canelo, and those two could hold off, no matter how much money they are offered.
