David Benavidez says he will use “everything” Cuban David Morrell has said about him to “fuel” his fire when they meet on February 1st in their light heavyweight main event at PBC on Prime Video PPV at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
WBA ‘regular’ champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) was just pointing out the obvious, saying that Benavidez has been avoiding him since 2022 and that he is “fat little chick” not the ‘Mexican monster’ tough guy he tries to make fans think he is. Morrell sees Benavidez as a “fake” poser, and a “chicken” one at that.
Loss of control?
“When I get in the ring, I try to do as much damage as possible because if I don’t get you, they try to get me. So I take this very seriously,” David Benavidez told Miami Hustle about his fight against David Morrell on February 1st.
“I feel like every fighter I go into the ring with is trying to take food off my plate, and I’m not going to let that happen. David Morrell has been talking crap for a while now. He tries to say no. He kept my name in his mouth.
“He thought I would never take the fight. So when we accepted the fight, he tried to act like he wasn’t talking shit and wasn’t saying anything about me. I’m using everything he said about me to fuel the fight,” Benavidez said of Morrell.
It sounds like Benavidez will fight with anger and emotion against Morrell and put himself in position to get caught by one of Morrell’s big shots. That’s the problem with Benavidez. He is hot-headed and has temper issues.
That may be why he acted and shoved Morrell when he refused to shake his head during their Dec. 17 media exercise in Miami. He could not bear the humiliation of Morrell rejecting his attempted handshake. So he pushed him. He was lucky that Morrell didn’t knock him out with his heavy WBA ‘regular’ belt which he threw at him in response as he could have been cut to ribbons if he had hit him in the head.
An angry fight against a calm fighter like Morrell, who has technical skills honed by years of fitting into the Cuban amateur team, is a mistake.
If Benavidez fights like a wild man against Morrell, he will be knocked out. This guy has one-punch power and has competed with the two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Julio Cesar La Cruz and Osley Iglesias. These are fighters superior to anyone Benavidez has fought in his 12-year pro career, and arguably better than him.
“I can’t say because I haven’t been in the ring with him, but on paper, it looks like he has everything,” Benavidez said when asked if David Morrell is his toughest opponent to date. “He’s got reach, he’s got speed, he’s got footwork and he’s got 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 has fought, and if he loses, he will prove it on February 1st. Gvozdyk was a good fighter years ago, but by the time Benavidez fought him, he was 37 years old, 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 would have lost to him.
“I’ve been boxing for 25 years. I like it when I see a strong fighter to get in the ring with, because the most satisfying thing for me is to shut the mouths of people 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 accepted this challenge,” said Benavidez.
Boxing fans have doubted Benavidez’s ability to beat Morrell for years. They also doubted his ability to compete in the weight class natural to his massive cruiserweight, at 200 or 175.
Benavidez was already supposed to fight Morrell years ago, and move up to light heavyweight to fight Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivolo. Moreover, Benavidez should have already fought at cruiserweight against Jai Opetaia because he has had the size to compete in that weight class for years. Instead of winning either of those fights, Benavidez played it safe, melted down to 168, enjoying smaller, older fighters, and didn’t get the fight he wanted against Canelo Alvarez.
Deferred decision
“This is a challenge that not too many people are willing to accept at 168 and 175. So, the toughest challenges, I accept them. I want to be the most dominant fighter there is. So, I’m going to keep doing what I have to do,” Benavidez said.
It took Benavidez three years to finally accept the challenge of the Cuban Morrell, who has been calling him out since 2022. Benavidez didn’t want to fight Morrell, but changed his mind after a less-than-impressive fight against Radivoj Kalajdzic on August 3rd in Los Angeles.
This means that Benavidez is not as fearless as he makes himself out to be because if he had no fear, he would be fighting Morrell in 2022 instead of fighting these guys:
– Oleksandar Gvozdik
– Demetrius Andrade
– The Caleb plant
– David Lemieux
