Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. says his son, interim WBC lightweight champion David Benavidez, will “hurt” WBA “regular” champion David Morrell on February 1st in his last in Las Vegas. Jose Sr. states that Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) has not been in this “scene” before, while Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) has.
Can Benavidez hurt Morrell?
Jose Sr. feels that the 26-year-old Morrell is crumbling from the pressure of having all the attention on him. It seems wishful thinking on the part of Papa Benavidez, because what we saw in the Mexican Monster’s debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk was that he is a mere mortal now that he has moved up from 168.
This fight showed that Benavidez might need to start thinking about a return to the super middleweight division if things fall apart for him at lightweight. If Benavidez loses to Morrell by KO, as some are suggesting, he needs to trim down and try to get back to 168.
Like many fighters moving up in weight, Benavidez isn’t the same guy and doesn’t fit in the 175-lb division like Morrell. In his lightweight debut, the talented Cuban Morrell hurt Radivoje Kalajdzic repeatedly with single shots to the head, putting him in trouble almost immediately in the first round and continuing to outplay him throughout.
No one had ever done this to Kalajdzic before, not even Artur Beterbiev. Morrell’s power at 175 is higher than any top-tier fighter at lightweight.
Examining Benavidez’s frame
In contrast, the power of Benavidez, or the lack of it, is that of a mid-range 168-pounder, and one reason for that is his weak and emaciated body. Benavidez has a dry and fragile upper body. He has always been like that, but at 175, he is more than an obstacle against the powerful apex predators in this weight class, such as David Morrell.
“People say he (Benavidez) is not the same. He was going to cancel that fight (Oleksandr Gvozdyk). He hurt his right hand. Now he’s good, and he had a cut over his eye two weeks before the fight ” said Jose Benavidez Sr. Fight Hub TV on David Benavodez’s poor performance in his last fight on June 15th.
“He is strong, healthy, motivated and we’re going to hurt David Morrell on the 1st of February. He (Benavidez) is the one who called Al Haymon and said he wanted the fight with David Morrell. I want to thank David Morrell’s team. It was an easy fight to do.
“He has power, IQ, and speed. Plus, he’s left-handed,” Jose Sr. said. by Morrell. “We are excited to fight David Morrell. “I am happy that people want to see this fight. Many people think Morrell can win. There are levels in boxing, and David (Benavidez) has already been in this kind of stage. This is Morrell’s first stage, fighting for two titles. I think David will be the winner.”
Fans aren’t buying Benavidez’s excuses for double hand injuries from his June 15 fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Benavidez was slapping with his fists as he always had at 168. He is not the same fighter at 175 as he was at super middleweight, and he will not be.
Benavidez’s lack of power at 175
Benavidez is a text example of a weight bully. Now that he’s fighting near his proper weight class, he’s just a shell of his former self. He should be in cruiserweight, but at least 175, he is closer, and his power is not good enough to dominate in this weight class as he was in 168.
Benavidez cannot afford to continue to post in front of his opposition, focusing on punching volume. He took a career of head kicks from Gvozdyk, but it won’t end well for him if he tries that against David Morrell. He is the No. 1 fighter in the heavyweight division, the apex predator, and he will hurt Benavidez.
As always, Benavidez threw machine gun combinations, but the difference was that he didn’t overwhelm the equally bigger and more powerful Gvozdyk. Benavidez fell off the pace quickly, threw so many punches while carrying extra weight and was hit harder than he had ever been during his 11 years of fighting against smaller opposition at 168.
“I came to (Morrell) and I said, ‘We’re going to take that bell away from you.’ champion, NOT world champion. That’s why they call him the “Mexican Monster,” said Benavidez Sr.
Jose Sr. he went on record saying that Benavidez has fought “everyone” at super middleweight and lightweight. Benavidez hasn’t fought at all at 168 or 175. His best win at 168 came against Caleb Plant, and that guy was almost beaten in his last fight by Trevor McCumby.
The “Mexican Monster” has mostly fought older guys, and only has one fight under his belt at 175 against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk. That guy was retired for four years from 2019 to 2023 and only recently made a comeback last year.
At super middleweight, Benavidez did not fight any of these Killers:
Canelo Alvarez
Jaime Munguia
Christian Mbilli
Osley Iglesias
Diego Pacheco
Edgar Berlanga
The reality is that Benavidez was paired with the super middleweight like Edgar Berlanga, but he and his father, Jose Sr., talked a lot to make it seem like he was doing more than he actually was.
