Sergio Mora says David Benavidez must knock out undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev if he gets through WBA ‘ordinary’ champion David Morrell in their fight on February 1 next month.
Too much power
Mora feels Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) has too much power for ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez, who hasn’t looked like the same fighter he was in the past at 168 when he moved up to 175 last year against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15.
Mora wants Benavidez to maneuver carefully to avoid Beterbiev and Dmitri Bivol, the two monsters at 175, and focus on fighting guys moving up in weight from 168, like Canelo Alvarez.
Chris Mannix thinks it’s a good idea for Benavidez to fight Beterbiev because it will give him a giant $10 million payday. If he prevails against Artur, he will hold all four belts at 175 and have something to entice Canelo to fight him.
“The way to get to Canelo Alvarez is to beat Artur Beterbiev and become the undisputed champion at 175. I bet Canelo will go for that fight then,” Chris Mannix said on his YouTube channeltalks about how David Benavidez can get a fight against Canelo Alvarez by defeating undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
“Beterbiev will be more than a 2-1 favourite. Maybe a 4-1 favorite against Benavidez,” Sergio Mora said. “I’m a big fan of David Benavidez. At 168 he was a monster. At 175, he should be moved carefully.
“You can’t put him in with monsters. You can’t put him in with guys who are going to give him problems with power like Beterbiev or footwork and experience of Bivol. You have to calculate. If Benavidez wants to fight the best at 175, he has to fight guys coming up in weight like Canelo,” Mora said.
As Benavidez looked in his fight against former WBC 175-lb champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he will have big problems against Beterbiev because he gets hit too much. Benavidez struggled with Gvozdyk and hit hard. He looked like the loser afterwards, with a beaten face and a look of resignation on him.
Benavidez knew he had met his match. Fighting Beterbiev would be much worse because he would hit harder and have many opportunities to land his shots.
Destined for destruction
“I wouldn’t put him as a favorite against Beterbiev. He’s got dynamite in those hands, and they’re heavy hands. Yes, Benavidez will bring the speed. The speed will not be enough, and I think the technique will also be with Beterbiev. The technique, the power. It will be devastating,” Mora said.
