Coach Jose Benavidez Sr. says his “20 years” The son, interim WBC lightweight champion David ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez, will beat David Morrell on February 1 and then fight the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch.
20 or 28?
Not sure where Benavidez Sr. get this bit about David being “20 years old” because he is 28 and has a lot of mileage on its odometer.
I’d say Benavidez is closer to 38. He has been a professional since 2013 and is already starting to fail physically, with many injuries everywhere. Although he was 20 years old, he would be against, fighting the Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) in the main event in 23 days on PBC in Prime Video PPV.
It will be a tough fight for Benavidez, especially since he is starting to break down physically from a long career with many wars. He also had a lot of gym wars because that is his style.
Jose Sr. also states that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) could move up to cruiserweight to face the winner of the unification fight between IBF champion Jai Opetaia and WBA & WBO champion Gilberto Zurdo’ Ramirez.
Beterbiev or Bivol Next?
“We have to look impressive to make history and go face to face with the other monsters of the division,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. Fight Hub TVSpeaking of his son, David Benavidez, he needs to look good against David Morrell on February 1.
“This is the best fight we have ever had. We have a younger fighter. A hungry fighter and he will be explosive. It will be very exciting. This is a fight that we need to show our talents and show the world that David (Benavidez) can boxing, David can hit, can be aggressive, can counter, and can cut the ring.
“So, there are many things that the fans have to see in this fight. David Benavidez is only 20 years old (correction: He is 28). The plan is to continue, and fight David Morrell, and have an opportunity with Bivol or Beterbiev and maybe even Zurdo Ramirez. That’s the plan,” Jose Sr. said.
If Benavidez loses this fight, he can forget about fighting the winner of the Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 rematch or moving up to cruiserweight to challenge Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez for his WBA and WBO titles. Jose Sr. he is drunk on the success of his son from his days to 168 years, fighting smaller and older fighters on the mountain. So, of course, he talks like his son, Benavidez, can walk for everyone and continue to do what he did at super middleweight.
The Mexican Monster’s last fight at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15 should be a wake-up call for Jose Sr. because that match showed that he is not the same guy at lightweight as he was at 168.
Cruiserweight Dreams
“We want to face the monsters of the division,” Jose Sr. said. “Zurdo Ramirez just got another belt (at cruiserweight). Yesterday, we saw another champion, Jai. I think they can face each other, and maybe we will face the winner of this. Like I said, David is only 20 years old.
“We’re not afraid to lose our undefeated records, but we’re not going to. I’m very confident that he’s going to come and destroy this guy and go on to bigger and better things,” said Jose Benavidez Sr.
I hope Jose Sr. he doesn’t come unglued if he sees Benavidez get knocked out by Morrell and sees all his plans go away. This would have happened anyway if Benavidez had fought where he always should have been, at 175, rather than breaking down to beat smaller fighters at 168.
This is typical stuff we see today, with younger fighters fighting in weight classes that have no business competing. They can get away with it when they’re younger, but when they hit their late 20s or early 30s, the jig is up. They are forced to compete in weight classes appropriate for their size.
