David Benavidez is already planning his strategy to defeat the winner of the February 22 rematch between undisputed lightweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
“The Mexican Monster” Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says he will use a different game plan for each of them and box Beterbiev (21-0, 21 KOs) and apply pressure against Bivol.
Morrell So Glory
It’s still too early for Benavidez to think about facing the winner of that fight as he still has to defeat “regular” WBA lightweight champion David Morrell on February 1st. It’s a 50-50 fight in most people’s minds, but not in Benavidez’s.
He is ultra-confident that he will have no problems beating Morrell, so he finally agrees to the fight after seeing the Cuban work against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3.
Few people give Benavidez a chance to beat Bivol or Beterbiev, but it’s no surprise that they believe he can beat him. It’s his personality. Like many fighters who have been carefully matched, Benavidez thinks he can beat anyone, which may be his undoing when he goes up against Morrell.
His matchmakers at PBC kept Benavidez well protected, and he fought in a division below his frame size until his last fight. That helped him.
“My main goal is to knock out David Morrell and then go up and face whoever is next,” said David Benavidez to Sean Zittel about his immediate goal for February 1st. I thought we were ranked #1 (with the WBC) in the place to fight the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol. So if that’s what it is, I’m 100% ready for that too.
“With these big fights, I’m able to build my brand more and more. It’s a bit like Canelo’s career. Il s’avança et battait des combattants plus gros (nommés). If I don’t have Canelo’s fight , I don’t really care. I’m really happy with my career and I’m happy with the opportunities I have. Now, it’s just to show that I’m the best in the world, no matter what the weight class.
“I just feel bad for people because people are missing a great fight,” Benavidez said, still gushing about the Canelo fight. “That’s why we’re here, to give people a good fight.”
Benavidez should have forgotten about Canelo years ago because he made it clear to everyone that he would never stand a chance. If Benavidez had given up a long time ago, he could have moved up to light heavyweight or cruiserweight and possibly win a world title right now.
Box Beterbiev, Pressure Bivol
“They are the iron champions in the weight class,” Benavidez said of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. “Beterbiev is the strong one, who is coming. He is like a tank that tries to take you out, but there is room for him to be outboxed. Honestly, I think Bivol beat him. I thought Bivol had it beat and that Bivol beat him convincingly. That’s how you beat that fighter.”
Benavidez is not a professional judge, so his opinion on Bivol deserving the win over Beterbiev in their October 12th bout is meaningless. However, he said before his fight that he thought Bivol was going to win, so he already had a bias. Beterbiev won under pressure, and the judges have already made their call.
Bivol is the best boxer in the 175 lb division, but he failed to outbox Beterbiev. If Bivol couldn’t do it, a volume puncher like Benavidez won’t. He is not a great boxer, and he will not be able to change the way he fights after 11 years in the pro game. Benavidez is the finished product. If he fights Beterbiev, he’s going to use the same high-production style he always has, and that would be a disaster for him. It would be another Callum Smith, but without the power.
“With Bivol, you have to press him more and throw a lot more combinations,” Benavidez said. “You can’t just throw left hooks and right hooks. You have to be really smart with your combinations. So, both of you, you have to fight two different ways, but whoever we fight, we have to be 100% ready. It would definitely be ready, and it would be an amazing fight with both guys.
Benavidez sparred with Bivol before, and it was rumored that he had the better of him. However, if it were true, it would be sparring, not a fight. Bivol would be a problem for Benavidez in a real fight, where he wouldn’t be as practiced as he was during the sparring sessions.
Why Morrell Now?
“That’s why I took this fight (David Morrell) without a problem because when I was waiting for that (to fight the winner of Beterbiev vs. Bivol), I thought because he was the No. 1 contender (with WBC), because that fight ended the way he did, you have to give him the respect he deserves for a rematch,” Benavidez said.
It wasn’t until David Morrell looked less than impressive in his last fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3 that Benavidez wanted to fight. Before that fight, Benavidez and his father, Jose Benavidez Sr., wanted nothing to do with Morrell. They probably saw his weaknesses and decided: “I think he’s perfect.”
“So, they were giving me a few other names, and I was like, ‘Man, I’m not interested in any of these fights. I want big fights, and if we can’t get anyone big, we’re going to get a big fight from a person who has a belt that talks a lot of shit,” Benavidez said about why he chose to fight Morrell.
The timing of Benavidez’s decision to fight Morrell is suspect. It comes right after his first unimpressive performance in his five-year career. Benavidez did not raise his hand to fight Morrell when he was destroying Sena Agbeko or Yamaguchi Falcao.
“So, that’s kind of the way we’re going. This is a fight that people have wanted to watch for a long time. So, I feel like this is the best time to do the fight between me and Morrell. It’s just in my mindset I’m ready to fight the best. I don’t care who it is. I’m 100% ready to fight whoever it is,” Benavidez said.
