David Benavidez says he’s taking the fight against highly rated light heavyweight David Morrell on February 1st because he wants to “keep people quiet.”
This fight is long overdue by at least two to three years, as former Cuban amateur star Morrell has been calling out Benavidez for several years and getting nowhere. Benavidez didn’t want to fight him for obvious reasons.
He was chasing a Canelo payday, and Morrell could have ended any chances at that fight. The fact that it took so long for Benvidez to finally face Morrell already made it clear to the fans that he was completely scared of the Cuban fighter, even if he didn’t want to admit it. People’s actions betray what really lies within.
Benavidez with a chip on his shoulder
‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) wants to show people he is “not afraid” of the WBA’s ‘regular’ 175-lb champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) and will take on the young phenom in the main event on PBC Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This is a fight where Benavidez has to prove that he is as good as he has made himself out to be.
For the past two years, fans have questioned Benavidez’s courage and trashed him for avoiding Cuban Morrell Jr’s frequent calls. It was impossible for people not to notice that Benavidez was fighting less opposition while David Lemieuz, Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade.
It didn’t take a genius to realize that Benavidez was not the courageous person he led people to believe he was. He was just a cruiserweight who could make weight at 168 to fight smaller guys while trying hard to get a fight against Canelo Alvarez and the huge payday that would come from such a fight.
Benavidez didn’t look good in his first fight at light heavyweight against Oleksander Gvozdyk on June 15, and that performance showed that he’s only an average volume puncher now that he’s fighting guys near his normal weight class. He still looks like a cruiserweight after he rehydrates, but at light heavyweight he’s at least halfway close to where he needs to be.
Morrell: The most dangerous fighter at 175?
“Even though he didn’t look too good, he had performances where he looked good. Many people say he is the most dangerous fighter. Bring him on,” David Benavidez said ESNEWStalking about David Morrell ahead of their February 1st fight in Las Vegas.
Morrell is the biggest puncher in the 175-lb division, with true one-punch power in both hands and when he lands, he’s capable of knocking anyone out. What he lacks is the combination of punches to finish off his enemies. Morrell didn’t need to be a combination puncher when he fought at 168 because he was so powerful, but now that he’s at 175 it’s a different story.
To get knockouts in this weight class, you need to string together punches and finish your opponents with shakedowns. Benavidez is going to have a tougher transition to light heavyweight because he only has average power and doesn’t have the amazing one-punch KO ability that Morrell possesses. He is not blessed in that department. Benavidez is more of a blue collar, 9 to 5 type of fighter.
The fight Benavidez is referring to is about Morrell, 26, who didn’t look “too good” against the powerful light heavyweight contender Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic on August 3 in Los Angeles.
It was Morrell’s debut at 175, against a fighter who has only lost once in the last eight years, and that was against Artur Beterbiev in 2019. Morrell continued to hurt Kalajdzic several times in the fight, leaving him on the brink got to be beaten. out.
Morrell’s reliance on throwing singles instead of combinations and flurries prevented him from getting the stoppage. That was how Beterbiev knocked Kalajdzic out in the fifth round five years ago.
Benavidez looked worse in his debut against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15, after gassing after six rounds and taking a beating in the last six. That fight should have been a draw, but the judges in Nevada gave it to Benavidez by wide decision.
This was not surprising due to its popularity, but it was NOT a true victory. Fans poured on Benavidez after that, and even Canelo Alvarez piled on, noting that he wasn’t the same fighter at 175.
The Mexican monster wants to silence doubters
“I want to silence people and prove that I am the best. I am not afraid of any challenges. That’s what we do,” Benavidez said.
This fight with Morrell might do the opposite of turning people off against Benavidez. This could cause an avalanche of criticism in the aftermath of a knockout loss for the Cuban talent. Even a loss to Benavidez would result in him being permanently dumped by fans, and he would never hear the end of it.
It’s clear that Benavidez’s vain hope that he’s still desperately holding on to the fight against Canelo will be dashed forever. That probably won’t stop him from continuing to delude himself into believing there will be another chance, but it never will.
February 1st PPV Undercard
– Brandon Figueroa vs. Stephen Fulton Jr 2 – co-feature
– Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz vs. Angel Fierro,
– Jesus Ramos Jr. vs. Jason Rosario
