WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez says he took the fight against WBA ‘regular’ champion David Morrell Jr because he wanted to show the fans what he can do in their 12-round fight on February 1st. Not “scared” of them for a headliner.
It was clear that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) was hesitant to fight former Cuban amateur star Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) as he called him out for two years. He didn’t want to fight him.
If Benavidez had been fighting A-level fighters in those two years, no one would have doubted his mettle. Still, they were facing cream puffs like David Lemieux, Kieron David, Caleb Plant, and Demetrius Andrade.
A fight born of fear
Benavidez chose to fight him instead of Morel, making it clear that he was afraid of the Cuban fighter. That’s why he’s so upset now because he knows for himself that he wanted no part of fighting her, and he hates that the fans recognized his fear.
“The reason I got this fight is because Muriel’s talking too much, saying I’m scared. It’s my way of proving that it doesn’t matter who he is. I’ll beat him sooner or later. I’m going to bring it, and here we are. It’s going to be a big fight. I’m excited to add that WBA title to my collection,” David said Benavidez from FightHub TV said while talking about his match against David Morrell in 2025.
Benavidez took the fight against Morel because it was the biggest payday he could get and because he needed to fight the winner of the rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbeev and Dmitri Bevel.
Benavidez and the WBC were criticized for being given an early shot at fighting in a 175-lb title eliminator in his first fight at light heavyweight on June 15 against Oleksandr Govsdyk.
Many fans felt that Benavidez would win a mandatory spot by defeating respective top contenders such as Joshua Bootsy, Anthony Yarde, and Willie Hutchinson before installing the WBC 175-lb mandatory for champion Artur Beterbeev’s title. should have Taking the Muriel fight would give Benavidez a chance to show he deserves a world title fight.
“Proving everybody wrong. Everybody thinks he’s going to beat me, prove them wrong and cement himself as the most dangerous fighter in his weight class. [175] Today,” Benavidez continued.
This fight is likely to end badly for Benavidez, who shows fans that his past success at 168 was due to him using weight manipulation to compete in a division below his size. What did He was a modern day Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for those who don’t remember.
Chavez Jr. is a guy who found success early in his career when he campaigned at middleweight and will look like a light heavyweight after rehydration. Once he could no longer make 160, his career fell apart, fighting opposition his own size at 168 and 175. Benavidez is heading in the same direction. We already saw that in Benavidez’s debut at 175 on June 15 against 37-year-old Oleksandr Govsdic.
Can Benavidez handle the power of Morel?
“He’s a great fighter, but I have a better ability to think. I have more speed, more power and more experience,” Benavidez said, ranking himself above Morel in those areas. “I think it’s going to be a great fight to show my skills, my skills and show that I’m the baddest guy at 175.”
Benavidez is wrong. He is faster and certainly not more powerful than Muriel. There is a big difference between them in these two areas. Morel has more hand speed than Benavidez and has the power of a punch.
Even undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Bitterbiff doesn’t have Muriel’s punching power. Cuban is the No. 1 power puncher in the 175-lb division. Benavidez is not in the top 10 in the power department.
Biggest punchers at 175:
- David Morrell
- Arthur Bitterbeef
- Joshua Butters
- Anthony Yarde.
- Callum Smith
- Oleksandr Govzdik
- Radivoje Kalajdzic
- Dmitri Biol
- Jean Pascal
- And dear
“I want to be the most dominant champion in this weight class, and the only way to show that is to beat other dominant fighters. I feel like he’s a little exposed, but he’s in this fight time and time again. Demanding,” Benavidez said of Morel’s last fight against the former world title challenger. Radivoje Kalajdzic On the 3rd of August
It’s not surprising that Benavidez isn’t ready to praise Morel for his win over Klajdzic as he’ll admit his opponent outplayed him in his very poor debut at 175.
Morel looked much better against Kalajdzic than Benavidez did in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Govzdzic, running out of gas after six rounds and taking heavy punishment halfway through the fight. . Many fans felt the fight should have been a draw as Govzdik dominated the final six rounds. In Morel’s case, he appeared to win all 12 rounds against Kalajdzic.
“I think this fight will be my best fight to date, but I’m getting better and better,” Benavidez said.
The fact is, Benavidez is not getting better if you judge by his last performance against Gvozdyk on June 15th. He was exposed in this fight to be one. Weight bullyJoe, once he fought someone his size, was an average fighter, no better than any of the top 15 light heavyweight contenders.
