The officers for the principle occasion and co-main occasion within the David Benavidez vs. David Morrell Jnr card set for Saturday in Las Vegas have been finalized.
Thomas Taylor, of California, would be the third man in cost for the Benavidez-Morrell battle, which can happen at T-Cell Area. The three judges who will rating the bout are Tim Cheatham and Patricia Morse Jarman, of Nevada, and Steve Weisfeld, of New Jersey.
The officers have been initially beneficial by Nevada State Athletic Fee Govt Director Jeff Mullen, and have been unanimously authorised by the 4 commissioners who have been in attendance Tuesday on the NSAC month-to-month fee assembly.
Saturday’s battle would be the third straight Benavidez battle that Taylor will referee. He was additionally the third man within the ring for Benavidez’s sixth-round stoppage of Demetrius Andrade in November of 2023 and his unanimous determination win final June over Oleksandr Gvozdyk – each of which came about in Las Vegas. Saturday marks the primary time Taylor will officiate a Morrell battle.
The 12-round gentle heavyweight battle, which can headline a Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view card on Prime Video, can have main world title implications. The winner will change into necessary challenger for the WBC title, which shall be among the many belts at stake on February 22 when undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev meets Dmitry Bivol in a rematch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Benavidez, 29-0 (24 KOs), is from Phoenix, whereas Morrell, 11-0 (9 KOs), is is from Santa Clara, Cuba, however now makes his residence in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Additionally on the agenda have been the officers for the rematch between Brandon Figueroa, 25-1-1 (19 KOs), and Stephen Fulton, 22-1 (8 KOs).
Harvey Dock, of New Jersey, was chosen because the referee, whereas New York’s Max Deluca, Oklahoma’s David Sutherland and California’s Zachary Younger will rating the battle. Dock, a former Golden Gloves champion with a 1-0 professional document, has by no means refereed a battle for both Figueroa or Fulton.
The battle, which would be the first protection of Figueroa’s WBC featherweight title, shall be a rematch of their shut junior featherweight unification bout in 2021, which Fulton gained by majority determination.
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Day by day Information, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring journal. He holds a Grasp’s diploma in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate College of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Affiliation of America. He could be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
