David Benavidez can’t afford to watch WBA “regular” lightweight champion David Morrell for his 12-round headliner on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Jose Benavidez Sr says his son could move up to cruiserweight to challenge the WBA and WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez if he can’t get an immediate title shot against the winner of the Feb. 22 rematch between undisputed lightweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. There is a good chance that Beterbiev-Bivol will fight a trilogy at the end of 2025.
Targeting Lefty At Cruiserweight
“For some reason, if this fight with the winner of Beterbiev and Bivol doesn’t happen or whatever, we will definitely go to cruiserweight to fight Zurdo Ramirez,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. on Fight Hub TV.
We do not know how serious Jose Sr. it’s up to Benavidez to move up to cruiserweight if he can’t get the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol 2, but it’s a bad idea to think about doing that so soon. It is quite clear that after years of being avoided by Canelo Alvarez, Benavidez has become impatient and will take the best possible fight without worrying about risk. You have to respect that.
If Benavidez advances and defeats Zurdo Ramirez, he could capture the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles and then face IBF champion Jai Opetaia in a fight the Saudis could be interested in staging in Riyadh.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) can’t afford to look past Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), because it’s a fight he could lose. Two, if Benavidez were to move up to cruiserweight, it would be difficult to get back to 175 to eventually fight the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol.
Looking beyond Morrell
“At 175, these two super contenders, Bivol and Beterbiev, could still have a trilogy. So, you’re still out there looking. I understand. It’s not fair. I understand where you’re coming from,” said Paulie Malignaggi to Probox TV about David Benavidez who finds himself waiting for big fights after he managed to get the one he wanted at 168.
“I say that the time now is to think about David Morrell. He is not there, and David Morrell is in the same situation. Let’s not forget. Canelo also did not want anyone from David Morrell. If Morrell beats Benavidez at 175, it is the same thing for Morrell. He will also wait for Beterbiev and Bivol.”
Benavidez and his father, Jose Sr., seem confident that Morrell is certain to win based on his performance against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd. Morrell fought the worst possible way, throwing single shots, and making it easy for Radivoje to fire counters. Morrell put his guard down and allowed him to tee off during the fight, and he didn’t attack the way he needed to in order to make it an easy match.
Interestingly, Morrell hadn’t learned from watching Artur Beterbiev in how he dealt with Kalajdzic throwing punches non-stop, and continuing to attack on the inside. Morrell did none of that, and looked lost.
“I think these two men are in the same exact situation, and that’s why it’s not a coincidence that they end up fighting,” Malignaggi said.
Regardless of the outcome of the Beterbiev vs. Bivol rematch on February 22, those two will likely fight a trilogy, which will leave the winner of the Benavidez-Morrell fight sitting and waiting.
Assuming Benavidez is serious about moving up to cruiserweight, he could say goodbye to his chances of winning against one of them when he goes back to 175. Benavidez would be better off staying at 175 and defending the WBA title against one of the main contenders , like Joshua Buatsi, Willy Hutchinson, or Anthony Yarde.
Moving up to cruiserweight would make it too difficult for Benavidez to return to 175 because he would have to lose weight.
