Jose Benavidez Sr. says his son, David Benavidez, may move up to cruiserweight to challenge WBA and WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez for his belts after David’s fight against WBA “regular” lightweight champion David Morrell on February 1.
Benavidez Sr’s first choice for ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez’s next fight after Morrell is to face the winner of Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch. He is the #1 choice. However, if that fight is unavailable due to a possible trilogy, Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) will move up to cruiserweight to challenge Zurdo Ramirez for both of his titles.
In front of Morrell?
Benavidez, 27, he doesn’t seem fully engaged in the fight against Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) because he and his father, Jose Sr., are already talking about fighting the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol 2 or moving up to cruiserweight to challenge Zurdo. The Cuban Morrell could be the biggest puncher in the 175lb division, with real one-punch power, and able to take advantage of Benavidez’s post-up fighting style.
Morrell is a very different type of fighter than the small, weak and old guys that Benavidez was feasting on at 168. During his promotional face-off, Benavidez looked fat around the midsection, with a belly visiblewho looked fat Elvis late in his career. What in the world did Benavidez eat to put on that much weight?
Benavidez seemed aware of his fat stomach during the face-off, trying to hide it with his arm and looking protective of that target during his back-and-forth with Morrell. It won’t be easy for Benavidez to get rid of that stomach he’s put on, but that’s his burden.
In contrast, Cuban Morrell has already looked in fighting form, ready to punch holes through Benavidez to expose him as a guy who was never as good as naive fans had thought.
In the ten years that Benavidez fought at super middleweight, he was always bigger than his opponents after rehydration, and he used his cruiserweight size to defeat him.
After moving up to 175 in his last fight on June 15 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Benavidez looked weak and tired, showing no power, getting hit hard by the 37-year-old former lightweight champion.
After the fight, Benavidez appeared had passed through a gauntletlooking battered, worn, and relieved that the Nevada judges had given him a 12-round unanimous decision. Many fans thought it should have been a draw. This performance by Benavidez showed that he is not cut out for the lightweight division. You must have the power to exist among the elite fighters at 175, and if you lack it, you walk there. We can see what happens with Benavidez when he faces Morrell.
The judges gave Benavidez the decision, but his problems in that fight will always be there. He can’t punch at 175, and his weight bullying doesn’t work because his opponents are the same size, but he hits much harder.
Benavidez Sr. Wants Ramirez
“Yes, that’s what we can do right away, so that’s what we’re looking for,” Jose Benavidez Sr. said. Fight Hub TV about David Benavidez who could move up to cruiserweight to challenge WBA and WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez after the Morrell fight.
“For some reason, if this fight with the winner of Beterbiev and Bivol doesn’t happen or whatever, we’re definitely going to cruiserweight to fight Zurdo Ramirez, and hopefully that will happen.
If Benavidez loses to Morrell, Jose Sr. he’s going to look stupid later, given all his premature planning on David’s next move. Depending on how badly Benavidez loses to Morrell, he might have to bite the bullet and find a way back to 168, to save his career.
Zurdo Ramirez defeated WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billiam-Smith by a 12-round unanimous decision on November 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was one of the best performances of Ramirez’s 15-year career, promoted by Golden Boy.
This fight showed that Ramirez is always improving, learning and choosing new methods to win his fights. The Ramirez vs Billiam-Smith scores were 116-112, 116-113 and 116-112.
