Many fans are beginning to believe that interim WBC lightweight champion David Benavidez made a mistake by choosing to fight WBA “regular” champion David Morrell at this early stage of his career before getting the money fight he was looking for .
Morrell has the power, speed and technical skills to knock Benavidez down and send him into the mud, where he may never return. The talented Cuban is a fighter who many believe is the heir apparent to the crown at 175, and Benavidez picked the wrong guy to smash his way into a giant, life-changing fight.
Beterbiev’s Payday
If David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) loses this fight to Morrell, he can say goodbye to the $10 million + payday he can get to fight undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in 2025. That mega-money fight would have Morrell, who would have the last laugh. Benavidez will have to work his way back to the top, and there’s no guarantee he can.
The next time, he would have to beat a young contender of the first level to capture an interim title at 175. It would not be the easy situation he had this time, where Benavidez fought 37 years. Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the interim WBC belt to line up in pole position to fight the undisputed championship against the winner of Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2.
The World Boxing Council received a lot of criticism for sanctioning a fight between Benavidez and Gvozdyk for their interim title at 175. This was Benavidez’s first fight at heavyweight, and he fought a man who had recently come out of a four-year retreat.
In fairness, Benavidez should have had to work on his position to fight for the interim WBC 175-lb title, and his opponent should have been one of the main contenders, such as Joshua Buatsi.
Yesterday’s scuffle at media training, where Morrell came close to hitting Benavidez with his WBA belt, is an eye-opener. This was a sign of what he has in store for him when he takes on Morrell and is defeated in his fight on February 1, live on PBC on Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
A 50-50 fight
This is by far the best fight Benavidez has fought during his 11-year career, and it’s the only one where he faces someone with a 50-50 shot to beat him. So far, Benavidez has provided gimmes regarding opponents with safe wins where he had no worries about losing.
He had things slanted in his favor from day one, fighting in a weight class below his giant light, weight frame and fighting weak opposition, in the middle of the road.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) does not need to take this risky fight against the talented Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), who is better than him in every department. “The Mexican Monster” would also have been selected to fight the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 without taking this risky fight against Morrell.
The bravado that led to Benavidez’s decision to take this bet was created by his victories over smaller, older, unfortunate fighters at 168. His victories at super middleweight.
