David Benavidez says he would be open to a fight against Oleksandr Usyk but would prefer to wait “five or six years” before facing him. He thinks he needs “more experience” before fighting heavyweight champion Usyk (23-0, 12 KOs). Oleksandr is not going to wait for Benavidez. If he doesn’t have the confidence to fight him now, that fight doesn’t happen.
Usyk Wait: 5-6 years
Benavidez says he might still take the fight if it’s offered to him. He admits that it would be one of the toughest of his career, which is an understatement.
Usyk is highly skilled and will take advantage of Benavidez’s habit of leaving himself open for scores due to his volume of punches. The ‘Mexican-Ecuadorian-American Monster’ Benavidez didn’t have to change his fighting style as he fought smaller guys while at 168 throughout the first ten years of his career.
In his recent debut at 175, he took a lot of hard shots against Oleksandr Gvozdyk when he tried to overwhelm him with volume, and his face looked like it had been run over by a tractor-trailer by the end of the 12-round contest.
If Benavidez were to move up to heavyweight or cruiserweight to face Usyk, he couldn’t use volume against him without being picked apart and embarrassed. That style only works against smaller fighters or weaklings.
In 39 days, Benavidez will face WBA regular champion David Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) on Feb. 22 on PPB on Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
This is a fight that will show what kind of figure Benavidez has in the 175-lb division. If he can’t beat Morrell, he might have to go back down to 168 if he can because it will only get worse for him against the other killers at 175.
“I’m going to hurt David Morrell”
“Anyone watching this fight is going to really enjoy watching this. I come in 100% ready,” said David Benavidez Battle hypeand talks about his February 22nd contest against WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell in Las Vegas.
“I have been training for almost four and a half months. I leave no stone unturned, and I am very motivated for this fight. Not just going in there to get the win, but to get the knockout. I’m going in there, and I’m going to hurt David Morrell.
“I’m going to make him eat all his words, and when I knock his a** out and take his belt, he’s going to know who’s the best in the world,” Benavidez said.
With Morrell’s power in both hands, he has an excellent chance to knock out Benavidez in this fight if he fights the same way he did. Morrell hits too hard and will knock out Benavidez just like he did Sena Agbeko and Yamaguchi Falcão. Those guys had excellent kinks in their fights with Morrell, but he quickly cut them down.
“I don’t think I have enough experience to go against Usyk,” Benavidez said when asked if he wanted to fight Oleksandr Usyk. “Never say never. Maybe in the future, but as of right now I’m just focused on these guys. Maybe in five or six years, but in that time he will probably be about 40 (try 42 or 43),” Benavidez said of Usyk.
“I have tremendous respect for Usyk. He is the greatest of all time. “If I have the opportunity to share the ring with him, I’m not going to say no, but it’s probably going to be the hardest fight I’ve had in my entire life,” says Benavidez.
It sounds weak on Benavidez’s part for him to talk about needing more experience before fighting Usyk because he has plenty of pro experience to take this fight. Besides, he is almost ten years younger than him.