Coach Jose Benavidez Sr. predicts that his son, ‘Mexican Monster’ David Benavidez, will go to “destroy” David Morrell in their light heavyweight contest in 11 days on February 1st on PBC on Prime Video PPV in Las Vegas.
This fight will show if Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is just “false” ‘The Monster’, lives off the hype he got from fighting lesser opposition at 168, or if it’s real. Morrell says he has seen fighters like Benavidez and considers him 100% “fake”.
Now that Benavidez is fighting at 175 against a younger fighter his size but more power, Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) could expose him.
Is the exit strategy already planned?
According to Tim Morrell, Benavidez walks between 215 and 220. So he has enough size to reinvent himself at cruiserweight if he falls short against the talented Cuban on February 1st.
If Benavidez loses, he may have to decide if he wants to move up to cruiserweight to try to salvage his career at that weight class. Staying at 175 would be a mistake for him because if he can’t beat Morrell, then he certainly won’t be successful against Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivolo.
Jose Sr. is already discussing exit strategydiscussing the possibility of Benavidez moving up to cruiserweight to challenge WBA and WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez for his belts. He would have to wait his turn until IBF champion Jai Opetaia faces Zurda in a three-belt unification. But either of those guys would be open to fighting Benavidez with him coming off a loss to Morrell.
Even if Morrell knocked him out, they would be willing to fight him because he would still be popular and probably have excuses to explain his loss. He mentioned injuries to explain why he played poorly against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and the fans believed him. He could do the same thing if he lost to Morrell, and people would give him a pass.
“We are 100% affiliated with Morrell. He is a strong fighter, a younger fighter. He’s a two-time world champion and he’s hungry. We don’t underestimate this guy,” Jose Benavidez Sr. said Sean Zittel on David Morrell, who David Benavidez faces on February 1st.
“We have arrived 100%. David [Benavidez] he is 28 years old. In my opinion, I think David will destroy it [Morrell]. Let’s focus on that right now. Surely David has big dreams. He wants to fight the winner. Who doesn’t want to fight the winner of Bivol and Beterbiev? Maybe even fight Zurda Ramirez at cruiserweight.
“Those fights are great. Great monsters in that division, and great possibilities at that weight. Zurdo Ramirez will fight another guy [IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia] for the belt, and hopefully we’ll get a chance for that as well,” Benavidez Sr. said.
