WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez says he took up the fight against WBA ‘regular’ champion David Morrell Jr. because he wanted to show fans he’s not “afraid” of him for their 12-round headliner on February 1 not.
It was pretty clear that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) was reluctant to fight former Cuban amateur star Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) after calling him out for a solid two years. He didn’t want to fight him.
If Benavidez had fought A-level fighters during those two years, no one would have doubted his mettle. Still, he faced cream puffers like David Lemieux, Kyrone David, Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade.
A fight born of fear
Choosing to fight them instead of Morrell, Benavidez made it clear he was scared of the Cuban fighter. That’s why he’s so upset now, because he knows for himself that he wanted no part of fighting him, and he hates that fans recognized his fear.
“The reason I took this fight is because Morrell has been talking a lot and saying I’m scared. This is my way of proving that it doesn’t matter who it is; I’m going to get them in the ring sooner or later. I told people that, and here we are. February 1st it’s going to be a big fight. I’m excited to add that WBA title to my collection of belts,” David Benavidez continues Fight Hub TVand talks about his match against David Morrell in 2025.
Benavidez took this fight against Morrell because it was the biggest payday he could get and because he needed to put himself in a position to fight the winner of the rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Benavidez and the WBC were criticized for giving him an immediate chance to fight in a 175-lb title eliminator in his first fight at light heavyweight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15.
Many fans felt that Benavidez needed to earn a mandatory spot by beating relevant top contenders such as Joshua Buatsi, Anthony Yarde and Willy Hutchinson before being installed as the WBC 175-lb mandatory for champion Artur Beterbiev’s title. Taking the Morrell fight would give Benavidez a chance to show that he rates a world title fight.
“Prove all the people wrong. All the people think he’s going to beat me, prove them wrong and cement myself as the most dangerous fighter in my weight class (175) today,” Benavidez continued.
This fight will likely end badly for Benavidez, who is showing the fans that his previous success at 168 was due to him using weight manipulation to compete in a division well below his size. He was a modern day Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. For those who don’t remember.
Chavez Jr. is a guy who had success earlier in his career campaigning at middleweight and would look like a light heavyweight after a rehydration. Once he could no longer make 160, his career fell apart, fighting his own size at 168 and 175. Benavidez is heading in the same direction. We already saw that in Benavidez’s debut at 175 against a washed-out 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th.
Can Benavidez handle Morrell’s power?
“He’s a great fighter, but I have a better ability to think. I have more speed, more power and more experience,” Benavidez said, rating himself above Morrell in those areas. “I feel like it’s going to be a big fight to showcase my talent, my skills and show that I’m the baddest man at 175.”
Benavidez is wrong. He is not faster and certainly NOT more powerful than Morrell. There is a big difference between them in both those areas. Morrell has superior hand speed to Benavidez and possesses one-touch power.
Even the undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev does not have the same punching power as Morrell. The Cuban is the #1 power puncher in the 175-lb division. Benavidez is not in the top 10 in the power division.
Biggest punchers at 175:
- David Morrell
- Artur Beterbiev
- Joshua Butter
- Anthony Yarde
- Callum Smith
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk
- Radivoje Kalajdzic
- Dmitry Bivol
- Jean Pascal
- And Azeez
“I want to be the most dominant champion in this weight class, and the only way to show that is by beating other dominant fighters. I felt he exposed a little bit, but he called over and over again for this fight,” Benavidez said of Morrell’s last fight against the former world title challenger Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3.
Unsurprisingly, Benavidez is unwilling to praise Morrell for his victory over Kalajdzic, as he will admit that his opponent out-performed him compared to his very poor debut at 175.
Morrell looked a lot better against Kalajdzic than Benavidez did in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, after running out of gas after six rounds and taking massive punishment in his own half of the fight. Many fans felt that the fight should have been a draw because Gvozdyk dominated the last six rounds. In Morrell’s case, it looked like he was winning all 12 rounds against Kalajdzic.
“I feel like this fight is going to be my best fight to date, but I’m getting better and better,” Benavidez said.
The reality is that Benavidez is NOT getting better if you judge him by his last performance against Gvozdyk on June 15th. He uncovered in that struggle to a weight bullywho, when he finally fought someone his size, was an average fighter, no better than any of the top 15 light heavyweight contenders.
