David Benavidez says he’ll use ‘everything’ Cuban David Morrell has said about him to ‘fuel’ his fire when they meet February 1 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) just pointed out the obvious, saying Benavidez has been avoiding him since 2022 and that he is a “big little chicken » and not the “Mexican monster” badass he tries to make fans believe. Morrell considers Benavidez a “fake” poser, and a “chicken” at that.
Lose 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 the The hustle and bustle of Miami about his fight against David Morrell on February 1.
“I feel like every fighter I get in 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 shit for a while. He tries to say no. He keeps my name in his mouth.
“He thought I was never going to fight. So once we agreed to the fight he tried to act like he wasn’t saying anything and wasn’t saying anything about me. I’m using everything he said about me to fuel the fight,” Benavidez said of Morrell.
It looks like Benavidez will fight with anger and emotion against Morrell and put himself in position to get caught by one of Morrell’s big power shots. That’s the problem with Benavidez. He’s a hothead and he has a character problem.
Maybe that’s why he acted out and shoved Morrell when he refused to shake his head during their media workout Dec. 17 in Miami. He couldn’t bear the humiliation of having his attempted handshake rejected by Morrell. So he pushed him. He’s lucky Morrell didn’t piss him off with his heavy ‘normal’ WBA belt he threw at him in response, because he could have been cut to ribbons if it had hit him in the head.
Fighting in anger against a calm fighter like Morrell, who has technical skills honed over years on the Cuban amateur team, is wrong.
If Benavidez fights like a savage against Morrell, he’s going to be knocked out. This guy has unique punching power and has rivaled two-time Olympic gold medalist Cuba. Julius Caesar La Cruz And Osley Iglesias. These are fighters superior to anyone Benavidez has fought in 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 it all,” Benavidez said when asked if David Morrell was his toughest opponent yet. “He has range, speed, footwork and power. This shit doesn’t scare me.
No one on Benavidez’s resume has Morrell’s size, youth, technical ability or power. This is by far the best fighter he’s ever fought, and if he loses, it will prove it on February 1st. Gvozdyk was a good fighter years ago, but by the time Benavidez fought him, he was 37, after four years of 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 love when I see a strong fighter that I’m about to go into the ring with because what satisfies me the most is to silence the people who think I can’t win, who think that I’m going to get eliminated. I know what I can do and that’s why I took on this challenge,” Benavidez said.
Boxing fans have doubted Benavidez’s ability to beat Morrell for years. They also doubted his ability to compete in a natural division at his huge cruiserweight, at 200 or 175.
Benavidez should have already fought Morrell years ago and moved up to light heavyweight to face Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Additionally, 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 getting one of those fights, Benavidez played it safe, swooping down to 168, feasting on smaller, older fighters and not getting the fight he wanted against Canelo Alvarez.
Decision delayed
“It’s a challenge that few people are willing to take on at 168 and 175. So, the most difficult challenges I take on. I want to be the most dominant fighter there is. So, I’m going to continue to do what I have to do,” Benavidez said.
It took Benavidez three years to finally accept the challenge of the Cuban Morrell, who has been denouncing him since 2022. Benavidez did not want to fight Morrell, but he changed his mind after his unimpressive fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3 in Los Angeles.
What this means is that Benavidez isn’t as fearless as he claims to be, because if he wasn’t afraid, he would have fought Morrell in 2022 instead of choosing to fight these guys:
– Alexander Gvozdyk
– Demetrius Andrade
– Caleb Factory
–David Lemieux
