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David Benavidez says he will use “everything” Cuban David Morrell has said about him to “fuel” his fire when they meet on Feb. 1 in their light heavyweight division at the PBC on Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
WBA ‘regular’ champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) just pointed out the obvious, saying that Benavidez has been avoiding him since 2022 and that he “fat little chicken” and not the ‘Mexican monster’ he’s trying to make fans think he is. Morrell sees Benavidez as a “fake” poser, and a “chicken” one at that.
Losing control?
“When I get in the ring, I try to apply as much damage as possible because if I don’t get you, they try to get me. So, I take this very seriously,” said David Benavides Miami Hustle about his fight against David Morrell on February 1st.
“I feel like every fighter I go in the ring with is trying to take the food off my plate, and I’m not going to let that happen.” David Morrell has been talking crap for a while now. He tries to say he isn’t. Keep my name in your mouth.
“He thought I would never accept a fight.” So when we accepted the fight, then he tried to act like he wasn’t talking s*** and not saying anything about me. “I’m using everything he said about me to fuel the fight,” Benavidez said of Morel.
It sounds like Benavidez will fight Morel with anger and emotion and put himself in position to get caught by one of Morel’s big shots. That’s the problem with Benavides. She is hot-headed and has temper problems.
Maybe that’s why he acted out and shoved Morel when he refused to shake his head during their Dec. 17 media workout in Miami. He could not bear the humiliation of Morel rejecting his attempted handshake. So he pushed him. He was lucky that Morrell didn’t hit him with his heavy VBA ‘regular’ belt which he threw at him in response as he could have been cut to ribbons if he had branded him in the head.
Fighting angrily against a calm fighter like Morel, who has technical skills honed by years of working in the Cuban amateur team, is a mistake.
If Benavidez fights like a wild man against Morel, he will be knocked out. This guy has one-punch power and has competed with the two-time Cuban gold medalist at the Olympics Julio Cesar La Cruz and Osley Iglesias. These are fighters superior to anyone Benavidez has fought in his 12-year pro career, and arguably better than him.
“I can’t say because I haven’t been in the ring with him, but on paper it looks like he has everything,” Benavidez said when asked if David Morrell is his toughest opponent to date. “He’s got range, he’s got speed, he’s got footwork and he’s got power. That s*** doesn’t scare me.”
No one on Benavidez’s resume matches the size, youth, technical ability or power of Morel. This is easily the best fighter he has fought, and if he loses, he will prove it on February 1st. Gvozdyk was a good fighter years ago, but by the time Benavidez fought him, he was 37 years old, coming off a four-year retirement and a knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev. If Benavidez had fought the same version of The Clove that knocked out Adonis Stevenson, he would have lost to him.
“I have been boxing for 25 years. I love when I see a strong fighter that I’m going to get in the ring with soon, because the most satisfying thing for me is to silence people who think I can’t win, who think I’m going to get knocked out. “I know what I can do and that’s why I accepted this challenge,” said Benavidez.
Boxing fans have doubted Benavides’ ability to beat Morel for years. They also doubted his ability to compete in the division natural to his massive cruiserweight frame, at 200 or 175.
Benavidez was already supposed to fight Morel years ago, and move up to light heavyweight to fight Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Furthermore, Benavidez was already supposed to fight at heavyweight against Jay Opeta because he has had the size to compete in that weight class for years. Instead of winning any of those fights, Benavidez played it safe, going down to 168, feasting on smaller, older fighters, and not getting the fight he wanted against Canelo Alvarez.
Delayed decision
“This is a challenge that not too many people are ready to take on at 168 and 175 years old.” So, the most difficult challenges, I accept them. I want to be the most dominant fighter there is. So I’m going to keep doing what I have to do,” Benavidez said.
It took Benavides three years to finally accept the challenge of the Cuban Morel, who has been calling him since 2022. Benavides didn’t want to fight Morel, but changed his mind after a less than impressive fight against Radivoj Kalajdzic. August 3 in Los Angeles.
This means that Benavidez is not as fearless as he portrays himself, because if he had no fear, he would be fighting Morrell in 2022 instead of choosing to fight these guys:
– Aleksandar Gvozdik
– Demetrije Andrada
– Caleb Plant
– David Lemieux
