David Benavidez says he’s going to use “everything” that Cuban David Morrell has said about him to “fuel” his fire when they meet on February 1st in their light heavyweight headliner on PBC on Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
WBA ‘regular’ champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) has just been pointing out the obvious, saying that Benavidez has been avoiding him since 2022 and that he’s a “fat little chicken” and not the ‘Mexican Monster’ tough guy that he tries to make fans think he is. Morrell sees Benavidez as a “Fake” poser, and a “Chicken” one at that.
Losing Control?
“When I get in the ring, I’m trying to implement as much damage as possible because if I’m not getting you, they’re trying to get me. So, I take this very serious,” said David Benavidez to the Miami Hustle about his fight against David Morrell on February 1st.
“I feel like every fighter I go in the ring with, they’re trying to take food off of my plate, and I’m not going to let that happen. David Morrell has been talking s*** for a while. He tries to say he doesn’t. He’s been keeping my name in his mouth.
“He thought I was never going to take the fight. So once we accepted the fight, then he tried to act like he’s not talking s*** and not saying nothing about me. I’m using everything he said about me to fuel the fight,” said Benavidez about Morrell.
It sounds like Benavidez will fight with anger and emotion against Morrell and put himself in a position of getting caught by one of Morrell’s big power shots. That’s the problem with Benavidez’s. He’s a hot head and has a temper problem.
That might be why he acted out and shoved Morrell when he refused to shake his head during their media workout on December 17th in Miami. He couldn’t handle the humiliation of having his handshake attempt rejected by Morrell. So, he shoved him. He’s lucky that Morrell didn’t brain him with his heavy WBA ‘regular’ belt that he tossed at him in response because he could been cut to ribbons if it had tagged him in the head.
Fighting angrily against a calm fighter like Morrell, who has technical skills honed from years of fitting on the Cuban amateur team, is a mistake.
If Benavidez fights like a wild man against Morrell, he’s going to get knocked out. This guy has one-punch power and has competed with two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Julio Cesar La Cruz and Osleys Iglesias. These are fighters superior to anyone Benavidez has fought during his 12-year professional career, and arguably better than him.
“I can’t say because I haven’t been in the ring with him, but on paper, he looks like he has everything,” said Benavidez when asked if David Morrell is his toughest opponent to date. “He has reach, he has speed, he has footwork, and he has power. That s*** doesn’t scare me.”
No one on Benavidez’s resume matches the size, youth, technical ability, or power of Morrell. This is easily the best fighter he’ll have fought, and if he loses, that’ll prove it on February 1st. Gvozdyk used to be a good fighter years ago, but by the time Benavidez fought him, he was 37, coming off a four-year retirement and a knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev. If Benavidez had fought the same version of Gvozdyk that knocked out Adonis Stevenson, he’d have lost to him.
“I’ve been boxing for 25 years. I like it when I see a strong fighter that I’m about to get in the ring with because what satisfies me the most is shutting people up who think I can’t win, who think I’m going to get knocked out. I know what I can do, and that’s why I took this challenge,” said Benavidez.
Boxing fans have doubted Benavidez’s ability to beat Morrell for years. They’ve also doubted his ability to compete in a division natural to his massive cruiserweight frame, at 200 or 175.
Benavidez should have already fought Morrell years ago, and moved up to light heavyweight to take on Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Moreover, Benavidez should have already fought at cruiserweight against Jai Opetaia because he’s had the size to compete in that weight class for years. Instead of getting any of those fights, Benavidez played it safe, melting to 168, feasting on smaller, older fighters, and not getting the fight he wanted against Canelo Alvarez.
Delayed Decision
“This is a challenge that not too many people are willing to take at 168 and 175. So, the hardest challenges, I embrace them. I want to be the most dominant fighter there is. So, I’m going to continue to do what I got to do,” said Benavidez.
It took Benavidez three years to finally accept the challenge from the Cuban Morrell, who has been calling him out since 2022. Benavidez didn’t want to fight Morrell, but he changed his mind after his less-than-impressive fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd in Los Angeles.
What that means is that Benavidez isn’t as fearless as he portrays himself because if he had no fear, he would have fought Morrell in 2022 instead of choosing to fight these guys:
– Oleksandr Gvozdyk
– Demetrius Andrade
– Caleb Plant
– David Lemieux
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