Final preparations are in place for Saturday’s highly anticipated light heavyweight clash between David Benavidez and David Morrell Jr. at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Thomas Taylor, of California, will serve as referee for the Premier Boxing Champions main event on Prime Video, while Tim Cheatham and Patricia Morse Jarman (both from Nevada) join Steve Weisfeld (New Jersey) as ringside judges. The stakes are high: the winner becomes the mandatory challenger for the WBC belt, one of the titles up for grabs in the upcoming Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol rematch on February 22 in Riyadh.
Interestingly, this will be Taylor’s third consecutive Benavidez bout, having officiated his sixth-round stoppage of Demetrius Andrade in 2023 and his unanimous decision victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in 2024. However, Saturday marks his first time working a Morrell fight. The undefeated Morrell, originally from Santa Clara, Cuba and now residing in Minneapolis, is brimming with confidence, calling himself “the best light heavyweight in the world.” Benavidez, from Phoenix, Arizona, shares that sentiment, saying he’s more prepared than ever.
Also on the card, Brandon Figueroa defends his WBC featherweight title in a rematch against Stephen Fulton. Harvey Dock will referee, with Max Deluca, David Sutherland, and Zachary Young judging. This marks the second meeting between Figueroa and Fulton, who edged out a majority decision in their 2021 junior featherweight unification bout.
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Image Credit: PBC