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David Benavidez is counting on his professional experience to carry him to victory against undefeated David Morrell on February 1st in their 12-round fight at PBC on Prime Video PPV.
“Mexican Monster” Benavidez predicts that he will soon be the “face of boxing” and sees this fight as his “takeover”. He is clearly not lacking in confidence going into the fight against Morel.
Benavidez’s confidence
David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says he can’t wait to add Morel’s ‘regular’ WBA light heavyweight title to his collection. He currently holds the WBC interim 175lb belt, a title that guarantees him a title shot against champion Artur Beterbiev if he wins against Morel.
Benavidez-Morel headline the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This is a fight that many boxing fans see as 50-50, but not Benavidez. He sees it as a sure win for him, but that’s the way he is.
If he were to fight Beterbiev, Yai Opetaya or even Daniel Dubois, he would probably be just as confident of victory. He’s one of those guys who has a huge ego shaped by years of campaigning at 168, and he has yet to fight an A-level fighter in his career.
Morrell is the closest to being that kind of fighter. That’s what makes it interesting: Benavidez will have to show if he’s as good as he thinks he is. I feel it’s not because his brother, Jose Benavides Jr., is the same. He loses every time he goes up against A-level opposition, but he’s always dead-on sure to win. This will be the first time for Benavides, and he may lose.
PBC PPV Undercard Fights
Brandon Figueroa vs. Stephen Fulton
Yoenly Hernandez vs. Angel Ruiz Astorga
Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro Barreda
Jesus Alejandro Ramos Jr. vs. Jason Rosario
Mirco Cuello vs. Christian Olivo
Experience vs. Power
“I don’t see being an amateur as an (advantage). This is not an amateur fight,” said David Benavidez media when asked about the experience advantage David Morrell has over him from his days as an amateur star in Cuba.
“This is a championship fight that lasts 12 rounds. He may have a three lap lead because of his amateur (experience), but other than that three laps mean nothing. I have participated with better fighters, in bigger places and bigger fights. This is my third PPV or my fourth.
“So I have experience on my side. I don’t think he’s ever been involved in anything like this, and I’m going to show you why I’m on another level. “He knew he bit off more than he could chew,” Benavidez said of Morrell.
Amateur experience is important when a fighter has the success Morel had in Cuba. As an amateur, he was 130-2, and that could affect this fight if he can withstand Benavides’ pressure. Morrell cannot move for 12 rounds.
He will have to stand his ground and fight Benavidez to win, because if he tries to move like he did in his debut at 175 on August 3rd against Radivoj Kalajdzic, he will lose a decision. Benavidez will have the upper hand in striking, but Morel can take that away by knocking him out. He will have to do that.
Benavidez has a thick skull and seems to shoot like it’s nothing. It has a front like a drive-in cinema. The blows with which Oleksandar Gvozdik hit him with full force had no effect, and they were stronger than the ones he connected with. He took them. However, Morel hits harder, and won’t bother moving like Gvozdik. The 37-year-old looked tired and old in his fight with Benavidez last June.
“I know what I can do.” Every high-caliber fighter says the same thing, but when they get in the ring with me, they say, ‘David Benavidez is on another level.’ I’m really motivated. I’m excited to go out there and get my VBA belt. I don’t have one of those. So I’m very excited to put one of those in my collection,” said Benavidez.
The “Mexican Monster” has yet to fight a “high caliber fighter” during his career. I don’t even know that Morrell is a high caliber fighter, but he fights at a higher level than the best guys that Benavidez has fought.
Morello’s power and technical advantage make him a threat, especially with the way Benavidez focuses on everything he throws. He is reckless with the way he fights, and will end up getting knocked out in such a fight. Will Morrell be the one to do it? We don’t know, but I wouldn’t be shocked.
So it is unclear who it is. His best wins were against 37-year-old Aleksandar Gvozdik, 36-year-old Demetrius Andrade and Caleb Plant. These are NOT high caliber fighters.
Andrade was a good fighter years ago at 154, but he was too old and small to fight light heavyweight Benavides at 168. David looked huge as he rehydrated for Andrade and didn’t look like a super middleweight. There was no way Demetrius could beat Benavidez that much bigger with him. If things were equal and Andrade was young and the fight was held at 154 in 2012, he would have had a chance, but not at 168 against a much younger light heavyweight Benavidez.
Gvozdik was retired for four years after being knocked out by Artur Beterbiev in 2019. He came back and won several cans of tomatoes before being picked up by Benanvidez’s management. This was not the first version of Alexander who lost to Beterbiev and knocked out Adonis Stevenson.
The face of boxing?
“This is my download. Seeing the fighters in Vegas makes me feel like I could take this on. I’m really having fun and I’m putting up a great fight. I want this for myself. I want to show people that I am the best. When I go in there, now everyone can see the level. “I’m excited to make my dreams come true and become the face of boxing,” said Benavidez.
It will be difficult for Benavidez to become the ‘Face of Boxing’ without beating Morel or the winner of the Artur Beterbiev rematch against Dmitry Bivol 2. With the way Benavidez loads up on every punch, putting his all into it, he will be in trouble against Morel or Beterbiev if it comes down to it far away
The way Benavidez fought Alexander Gvozdyk last June will hurt him badly. Fortunately for him, Gvozdik mostly pushed his shots and didn’t give them maximum power. When he started to step up his punches in the second half, he lit Benavidez up with head shots.
In the last 30 seconds of the 12th, he hurt Benavidez with a right hand to the body. Morel is much faster, younger and more powerful than Gvozdik. He will hurt Benavidez. I don’t think the ‘Mexican monster’ can change because that’s how he’s always fought and he’s incapable of trying to box. When he’s outside, he loads up on wild hooks, and that will be a problem against Morel. He’s going to counter him, and we could see a one-punch knockout victory for Morel.
