David Benavidez is counting on his professional experience to carry him to victory against the unbeaten David Morrell on February 1st in their 12-round fight on PBC on Prime Video PPV.
The ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez predicts that he’s going to be the “Face of Boxing” soon and that he sees this fight as his “takeover.” He’s obviously not short on self-belief going into the Morrell fight.
BENAVIDEZ’S CONFIDENCE
David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says he can’t wait to add Morrell’s WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight title to his collection. He currently holds the WBC interim 175-lb belt, a trinket title that guarantees him a title shot against champion Artur Beterbiev if he’s victorious against Morrell.
Benavidez-Morrell are headlining at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This is a fight that a lot of boxing fans view as a 50-50, but not Benavidez. He sees it as a sure-thing win for him, but that’s the way he is.
If he were to fight Beterbiev, Jai Opetaia, or even Daniel Dubois, he’d likely be just as certain of victory. He’s one of those guys who have huge egos shaped by years of campaigning at 168, and he’s yet to fight an A-level fighter during his career.
Morrell is the closest thing to being that kind of fighter. That’s what makes it interesting: Benavidez will need to show whether he’s as good as he thinks he is. I feel he’s not because his brother, Jose Benavidez Jr., is the same way. He’s lost every time he’s stepped up against A-level opposition, but he’s always dead-certain he will win. This will be Benavidez’s first time, and he may lose, too.
PBC PPV Undercard Fights
Brandon Figueroa vs. Stephen Fulton
Yoenli Hernandez vs. Angel Ruiz Astorga
Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro Barreda
Jesus Alejandro Ramos Jr. vs. Jeison Rosario
Mirco Cuello vs. Christian Olivo
EXPERIENCE VS. POWER
“I don’t see the amateur as any [advantage]. This isn’t an amateur fight,” said David Benavidez to the media when asked about the experience advantage that David Morrell has over him from his days as an amateur star in Cuba.
“This is a championship fight for 12 rounds. He might have an advantage for three rounds because of his amateur [experience], but other than that, three rounds don’t mean nothing. I’ve been in with the better fighters, and the bigger venues and the bigger fights. This is my third PPV or fourth.
“So, I have experience on my side. I don’t think he’s ever been in with anything like this, and I’m going to show why I’m on a different level. He knew he bit off a bigger portion than he can chew,” said Benavidez about Morrell.
Amateur experience matters when a fighter has the kind of success that Morrell had in Cuba. As an amateur, he was 130-2, and that could affect this fight if he can handle Benavidez’s pressure. Morrell can’t move for 12 rounds.
He’s going to have to stand his ground and fight Benavidez for him to win because if he tries to move like he did in his debut at 175 on August 3rd against Radivoje Kalajdzic, he’ll lose a decision. Benavidez will have the advantage in punch output, but Morrell can take that away by knocking him out. That’s what he’ll have to do.
Benavidez has a thick skull and seems to take shots like they’re nothing. He’s got a forehead like a drive-in movie theater. The punches Oleksandr Gvozdyk was hitting him with full force had no effect, and they were more powerful than the ones he was connecting with. He took them. However, Morrell hits harder, and he won’t tire himself out with movement the way Gvozdyk did. The 37-year-old looked tired and old in that fight with Benavidez last June.
“I know what I can do. Every high-caliber fighter says the same thing, but once they get in the ring with me, they say, ‘David Benavidez is on a different level.’ I’m really motivated. I’m excited that I’m going to go in there and get that WBA belt. I don’t have one of those. So, I’m very excited to land one lof those to my collection,” said Benavidez.
‘The Mexican Monster’ has yet to fight a “high-caliber fighter” during his career. I don’t know that Morrell is a “high-caliber” fighter either, but he’s fighting at a higher level than the best guys Benavidez has fought. Morrell’s power and technical skills advantage makes him a threat, especially with the way Benavidez focuses on loading up on everything he throws. He’s reckless with the way he fights, and he’ll eventually get knocked out fighting like that. Will Morrell be the one to do it? We don’t know, but I wouldn’t be shocked. So, it’s unclear who he’s talking about. His best wins have come against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk, 36-year-old Demetrius Andrade, and Caleb Plant. Those are NOT “high-caliber” fighters.
Andrade was a good fighter years ago when he was at 154, but he was too old and small to fight the light heavyweight-sized Benavidez at 168. David looked enormous as he rehydrated for Andrade and did not look like a super middleweight. There was no way that Demetrius was going to beat Benavidez with him so much bigger. If things were equal and Andrade was young and the fight was held at 154 back in 2012, he’d have had a chance, but not at 168 against a much younger light heavyweight-sized Benavidez.
Gvozdyk had been retired for four years after being knocked out by Artur Beterbiev in 2019. He came back against and beat a couple of tomato cans before being selected by Benanvidez’s management. This was not the prime version of Oleksandr that had lost to Beterbiev and knocked out Adonis Stevenson.
FACE OF BOXING?
“This is my takeover. Seeing fighters in Vegas, I feel like I could take this over. I really entertain and give great fights. I want this for myself. I want to show the people I am the best. When I go in there, everybody sees the level now. I’m just excited to make my dreams come true and become the face of boxing,” said Benavidez.
It’s going to be difficult for Benavidez to become ‘The Face of Boxing’ without beating Morrell or the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch. With the way Benavidez loads up on every punch, putting everything into it, he’s going to be in trouble against Morrell or Beterbiev if he gets that far.
The way Benavidez fought against Oleksandr Gvozdyk last June will get him badly hurt. Luckily for him, Gvozdyk was mostly pushing his punches and not putting maximum power on them. When he did start loading up on his shots in the second half, he was lighting up Benavidez with headshots. In the final 30 seconds of the 12th, he hurt Benavidez with a right hand to the body. Morrell is a lot faster, younger, and more powerful than Gvozdyk. He’ll do damage to Benavidez. I don’t think the ‘Mexican Monster’ can change because that’s how he’s always fought, and he’s incapable of trying to box. When he’s on the outside, he loads up on wild hooks, and that’ll be a problem against Morrell. He’ll counter him, and we could see a one-punch knockout win for Morrell.
