David Benavidez and David Morrell will meet in a high-stakes light heavyweight matchup on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Prime Video pay-per-view.

The victor of Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) will be sitting pretty to face the winner of the rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol once they square off on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Demetrius Andrade was the last contender Benavidez beat at 168 pounds before moving up to 175 pounds in June to score a unanimous decision against Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Benavidez dominated and blasted Andrade in November 2023 in a six-round stoppage.

Although the former middleweight titleholder Andrade (32-1, 19 KOs) has not fought since the Benavidez bout, he still has valuable insights to offer as to how he envisions the fight playing out between the volume-punching Benavidez and crafty southpaw technician Morrell.

“I think David Morrell is a good fighter. I think he’s too inexperienced in the professional game,” Andrade told MillCity Boxing. “Does he have skills? Yeah, he has skills in the game. Is it the best skills? I don’t think so. But has he ever fought anybody that pushed him to the limit as a professional? No. But he will find out February 1, though. [Benavidez] has been in with some top fighters. So I think Benavidez should come out with the victory.

“I give him all due credit. He’s been calling out [Benavidez]. He’s been wanting that fight. He must know something we don’t know, and may the best man win. I can’t wait to watch that fight. I think it’s a little too early [for Morrell] in my mind, but at the same time it’s good. They’re making it happen. It’s two young guys that have many years in the sport of boxing, no matter what the outcome is.”