David Benavidez says he is fighting top-rated light heavyweight David Morrell on February 1st because he wants to “Shut people down“
The fight is at least two to three years away as former Cuban amateur star Morel has been calling out Benavidez for years and getting nowhere. He didn’t want to fight him and was fighting lesser fighters.
Benavidez with a chip on his shoulder
‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) wants to show people that he “don’t be afraid” Muriel (11-0, 9 KOs), the WBA’s ‘regular’ 175-lb champion, will face the young phenomenon in the PBC main event on Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This is a fight where Benavidez has to prove that he is as good as he makes himself out to be.
For the past two years, fans have questioned Benavidez’s guts, trashing him for avoiding the repeated callouts of Cuban Morel Jr. It was impossible for people not to notice that Benavidez was fighting lesser opposition than David Lemieux, Caleb Plant, and Demetrius Andrade.
It didn’t take a genius to recognize that Benavidez was not the brave man he would have led people to believe he was. He was just a cruiserweight who could cut down to 168 to fight smaller guys while trying hard to get a fight against Canelo Alvarez and the big payday that comes with a fight like that.
Benavidez didn’t look good in his first fight at light heavyweight on June 15 against Oleksandr Govdzic, and that performance showed that he is now just an average volume puncher while fighting guys closer to his normal weight class. is He still looks like a cruiserweight after rehydrating, but at light heavyweight, he’s at least semi-close to where he should be.
Muriel: 175’s most dangerous fighter
“Even if he didn’t look great, he had performances where he looked good. A lot of people say he’s the most dangerous fighter. Bring him on,” David Benavidez told ESNEWS, Los Angeles. Talking about David Morrell ahead of the February 1st fight in Vegas.
Morel is the top puncher in the 175-lb division, with real one-punch power in either hand, and the ability to knock anyone out if he lands. What he lacks is combination punching to finish off his enemies. Morel didn’t need to be a combination puncher when he fought at 168 because he was so powerful, but it’s a different story now that he’s at 175.
Achieving a knockout in this weight class is all about stringing together shots and finishing your opponents with skirmishes. Benavidez will face a difficult transition to light heavyweight as he has only average power and not the impressive one-punch KO ability that Morel possesses. He is not blessed in this department. Benavidez is a blue-collar, 9-to-5 type of fighter.
The fight Benavidez is referring to is about the 26-year-old Muriel not looking “very good” against a powerful light heavyweight contender. Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic on August 3 in Los Angeles.
It was Morel’s debut at 175, against a fighter who had only lost once in the previous eight years, and that was against Artur Beterbeev in 2019. Morel still hurt Kalajdzic several times in the fight, bringing him to the brink of being knocked out. outside
Morel’s reliance on throwing single shots rather than combinations and flurries prevented him from achieving stoppages. Similarly, Beterbeef knocked out Kalajdzic in the fifth round five years ago.
Benavidez looked worse in his debut against Oleksandr Govzdik on June 15, gasping after six rounds and losing the last six. The fight was supposed to be a draw, but the Nevada judges gave it to Benavidez by a wide decision.
It wasn’t surprising given his popularity, but it wasn’t a real win. Fans poured on Benavidez after that, and even Canelo Alvarez piled on, noting that he wasn’t the same fighter at 175.
‘Mexican Monster’ wants to silence doubters.
“I want to shut people up and prove that I’m the best. I’m not afraid of a challenge. That’s what we do,” Benavidez said.
This fight with Morel could do the opposite of turning people off against Benavidez. This could lead to an avalanche of criticism following the knockout loss to the Cuban talent. Even a decision loss for Benavidez would result in him being permanently dumped by the fans, and they would never hear the end of it.
Obviously, Benavidez’s vain hopes that he’s still desperately holding on to a fight with Canelo will be a good thing. That probably wouldn’t stop him from deluding himself into believing there would still be a chance, but it never would.
February 1st PPV undercard
– Brandon Figueroa vs. Stephen Fulton Jr. 2 – Co-Feature
– Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz vs. Angel Farrow,
– Jesus Ramos Jr. vs. Jason Rosario
