David Benavidez says he will use “everything” Cuban David Morrell said about him to “fuel” his fire when they meet on February 1st in their lightweight headliner at PBC on Prime Video PPV in the T – Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. .
WBA “regular” champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) just pointed out the obvious, saying that Benavidez is avoiding him from 2022 and that it’s a “fatty chicken” and not the “Mexican Monster” tough guy that fans are trying to make you believe they are. Morrell sees Benavidez as a “Fake” poser, and a “Chicken” at that.
Losing control?
“When I’m in the ring, I’m trying to implement as much damage as possible, because if I don’t take you, they’re trying to take me. So, I take this very seriously,” said David Benavidez to the Miami Hustle about his fight against David Morrell on February 1st.
“I feel like every fighter that goes in the ring, they’re trying to take the food off my plate, and I’m not going to let that happen. David Morrell has been talking shit for a while. He’s trying to say he’s not No. He kept my name in his mouth.
“He thought I was never going to get the fight. So once we accepted the fight, then he tried to act like he didn’t talk shit and didn’t say anything about me. I used everything he said about me to it fuels the fight,” Benavidez said of Morrell.
It looks like Benavidez will fight with anger and emotion against Morrell and put himself in a position to get hit by one of Morrell’s big power shots. That’s the problem with Benavidez. He is hot headed and has a temper problem.
That could be why he acted and pushed Morrell when he refused to shake his head during his media training on December 17 in Miami. He couldn’t handle the humiliation of having his attempted hand-wringing rejected by Morrell. So, he pushed it. He’s lucky Morrell didn’t brain him with his heavy “regular” WBA belt that he threw at him in response because he could have been cut to ribbons if he’d tagged him in the head.
Fighting in anger against a calm fighter like Morrell, who has technical skills honed by years of adaptation in the amateur Cuban team, is a mistake.
If Benavidez fights like a wild man against Morrell, he’s going to get knocked out. This guy has the power of a fist and has competed with two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalists Julio Cesar La Cruz and Osley Iglesias. These are superior fighters to anyone Benavidez has fought during his 12-year professional career, and perhaps better than him.
“I can’t say because I haven’t been in the ring with him, but on paper, it looks like he has it all,” said Benavidez when asked if David Morrell is his toughest opponent to date. “He’s got reach, he’s got speed, he’s got footwork, and he’s got power. That shit doesn’t scare me.”
No one on Benavidez’s resume matches Morrell’s size, youth, technical ability or power. This is easily the best fight he has fought, and if he loses, this will prove on February 1st. Gvozdyk was a good fighter years ago, but when Benavidez beat him, he was 37 years old, coming off a four-year retirement and a knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev. If Benavidez had fought the same version of Gvozdyk that KO’d Adonis Stevenson, he would have lost to him.
“I’ve been boxing for 25 years. I like it when I see a strong fight that I have to come in the ring, because what satisfies me the most is to close people who think that I can’t win, who think that I will I know what I can do, and that’s why I took this challenge,” said Benavidez.
Boxing fans have doubted Benavidez’s ability to beat Morrell for years. They also doubted his ability to compete in a natural division at his massive cruiserweight frame, at 200 or 175.
Benavidez should have already fought Morrell years ago, and moved up to lightweight to face Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Also, Benavidez should already be fighting at cruiserweight against Jai Opetaia because he’s had the size to compete in that weight class for years. Instead of getting any of those fights, Benavidez played it safe, dropping to 168, feasting on smaller and older fighters, and not getting the fight he wanted against Canelo Alvarez.
Delayed decision
“This is a challenge that not too many people are willing to take on at 168 and 175. So, the tougher challenges, I embrace them. I want to be the most dominant fighter there is. So, I will continue to do what I have to do,” said Benavidez.
It took Benavidez three years to finally accept the challenge from Cuban Morrell, who has been calling him since 2022. Benavidez did not want to fight Morrell, but changed his mind after his less than impressive fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic in 2022. August 3 in Los Angeles.
What this means is that Benavidez is not as scared as he himself is, because if he wasn’t scared, he would have fought Morrell in 2022 instead of choosing to fight these guys:
– Oleksandr Gvozdyk
– Demetrius Andrade
– Caleb Plant
-David Lemieux
