Morrell to defend on Garcia-Davis PPV, then wants Benavidez

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David Morrell will defend his WBA “regular” super middleweight belt against Sena Agbeko in the co-feature of the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia Showtime PPV card on April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, organizers announced.

Also unveiled were two 10-rounders that will also be featured on the telecast (8 p.m. ET):

• A rematch between super middleweights Gabriel Rosado and Bektemir Melikuziev

• Middleweight up-and-comer Elijah Garcia against Kevin Salgado.

Morrell (8-0, 7 KOs), 25, a Cuban southpaw based in Minneapolis, will make his fifth defense and fight for the first time since Nov. 5, when he knocked out mandatory challenger Aidos Yerbossynuly in the 12th round. Yerbossynuly suffered a severe brain injury and was in a coma before recovering enough to be able to return home to Kazakhstan.

“I’m going to dispatch my opponent in sensational fashion and after this fight I want the ‘Mexican Monster’ David Benavidez,” Morrell said. “But first I have to get past a tough and very capable opponent in Agbeko. I intend to take care of my business and then look forward to taking on David Benavidez in a fight that the fans want to see.” 

Agbeko (27-2, 21 KOs), 31, a Ghana native fighting out of Nashville, has won four in a row since a decision loss to unbeaten prospect Vladimir Shishkin in February 2021.

“This is an opportunity that I relish greatly and is exactly how I envisioned winning the belt,” Agbeko said. “I’ve had a long journey to get to this point, but I’ve always trained like a guy with a target on my back. I want to win the belt and be the fighter that everyone is going after.”

Rosado (26-16-1, 15 KOs), 37, of Philadelphia, was supposed to fight Gabriel “Zurdo” Ramirez at light heavyweight on March 18 but the fight was canceled the day before because Ramirez was dramatically overweight and Golden Boy promised to get him a fight quickly.

He will face “The Bully” Melikuziev (11-1, 9 KOs), 26, a southpaw from Uzbekistan fighting out of Indio, California, in a rematch of Rosado’s third-round knockout win in June 2021 in a huge upset. It is Rosado’s only victory in his past five fights.

“It was tough having the fight against ‘Zurdo’ canceled, but now it’s me versus Bek on the biggest fight card of the year,” Rosado said. “I’m focused and ready to put Bek back in check. I plan on dominating ‘The Bully’ once again.”

Melikuziev has won four in a row since getting knocked out.

“This is the fight I wanted,” Melikuziev said. “This is the fight to right the wrong.”

Garcia (14-0, 12 KOs), 19, a southpaw from Phoenix, is coming off a tremendously impressive fourth-round knockout of then-unbeaten Amilcar Vidal Jr. on Showtime on March 4.

“After my last fight, I’ve been in the gym waiting for the time to showcase my skills yet again,” Garcia said. “I’m planning on putting on a great performance against Salgado.”

Salgado (15-1-1, 10 KOs), 25, a Mexico native fighting out of San Antonio, is the younger brother of former junior lightweight titlist Juan Carlos Salgado. He is 1-1-1 in his last three bouts and figures to be a heavy underdog.

“I know that I’m facing a good opponent, but I’m ready to surprise the boxing world,” Salgado said.

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Morrell photo: Esther Lin/Showtime

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