David Benavidez believes that David Morrell tried to injure him to get out of their fight when he threw his heavy WBA ‘ordinary’ light heavyweight belt at him after he bumped him during their December 17 face-off in Miami. Benavidez seems paranoid about the injury scenario he has formulated.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) became angry when Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) refused to shake his hand. So, to deal with his embarrassment and anger, he showed Morrell, who retaliated by throwing his WBA belt at him. The belt narrowly missed nailing Benavidez in the head. He interpreted that movement by Morrell as trying to get out of the fight by injuring him.
You can look at it the other way around. Benavidez was the one who tried to get out of the fight by shoving Morrell, hoping he would punch him in the face in retaliation. It was Benavidez who started it with the push. What did he expect Morrell to do?
Was Morrell scared?
“I really want to beat the s*** out of Morrell, and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” David Benavidez said. Battle hypewho still complains about David Morrell not wanting to shake his hand during their media training session.
“For me, I already know he is 100% afraid of me, because he is already looking for a way out. Who throws belts at someone’s face? That’s a heavy-a** belt, bro,” Benavidez said of Morrell throwing his WBA world title belt at him during their decamp after he was bumped hard without warning.
“For me, if I throw that belt at your face, I know in my mind that I’m going to hit you, and the fight is going to be canceled because you’re going to get cut. That is exactly what he did. He also aimed for my head. He didn’t try to miss,” Benavidez said.
Benavidez started it
There wouldn’t have been a problem if Benavidez had controlled his violent instincts when Morrell wouldn’t shake his hand. Does he go through life pushing everyone if they don’t want to shake hands?
“From the first press conference when we did the faceoff, I sensed the fear in him,” Benavidez said of Morrell. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and the same thing with this one. I said, ‘Be careful what you ask for, because I might be there to give it to you.
“It makes for a better fight. I did it all. I pushed him. I did the press conference thing, and now a lot more people are interested in this fight. They should be because it’s going to be a good fight. David Morrell is a good fighter. I am a great fighter.
Will Morrell get involved?
“We’re going to war, and if he’s serious about what he’s saying, he’s going to stand there and go toe-to-toe with me. I don’t think he will. I’m 100% ready to go in there and do it. I’m going to hurt that guy as much as I can,” Benavidez said.
Facing a big puncher like Morrell might not work in Benavidez’s favor because he hits a lot harder and will take advantage of all the shots he tends to throw.
Benavidez’s volume punch worked for him at 168 against the smaller, older, weaker fighters he was matched against. But at 175, he’ll have to reinvent himself if he doesn’t want his career to implode, starting with the Morrell fight.
