Benavidez: “Morel tried to hurt me with the belt!”

David Benavidez believes David Morrell was trying to hurt him to get out of their fight when he threw his WBA regular welterweight belt at him after shoving him during their Dec. 17 bout in Miami. Benavidez seems paranoid about the injury scenario he’s formulated.

Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) became angry when Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) refused to shake his hand. So, to deal with his shame and anger, he showed Morel, who retaliated by throwing him the VBA belt. The belt barely nailed Benavidez in the head. He interpreted Morrell’s move as an attempt to get out of the fight by injuring him.

You could look at it another way. It was Benavidez who tried to get out of the fight by shoving Morel, hoping to punch him in the face in retaliation. It was Benavidez who started with the jab. What did he expect Morrell to do?

Was Morrell scared?

“I really want to beat Morel, and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” David Benavides said. Fighthippestill complaining about David Morrell not wanting to shake his hand during their media training session.

“For me, I already know that he is 100% afraid of me because he is already looking for a way out.” Who throws a belt in someone’s face? That’s a heavy belt, bro,” Benavides said of Morrell dropping the WBA world title belt to him during their showdown after being shoved hard without warning.

“For me, throwing the belt in your face, I know in my mind I’m going to hit you, and the fight is going to be canceled because you’re going to get cut.” That’s exactly what he did. He also aimed for my head. “He didn’t try to miss,” Benavidez said.

It wouldn’t have been a problem if Benavidez had controlled his violent instincts when Morel didn’t want to shake his hand. Does he go through life pushing everyone when they don’t want to shake hands?

“From the first press conference when we had the face-off, I felt the fear in him,” Benavides said of Morel. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and the same thing with this. I said, ‘Be careful what you ask for because I might be there to give it to you.

“This makes for a better fight.” I did it all. I pushed him. I did a press conference and now a lot more people are interested in this fight. They should be because this is going to be a good fight. David Morrell is a good fighter. I am a great fighter.

Will Morrell commit?

“We’re going to war, and if he really means what he says, he’ll stand there and go toe-to-toe with me.” I don’t think they will. I’m 100% ready to get in there and do it. “I’m going to hurt that guy as much as I can,” Benavidez said.

It may not work in Benavidez’s favor to go up against a big puncher like Morrell, as he hits a lot harder and will take advantage of any punches he tends to throw.

Benavidez’s stronger punch helped him at 168 against the smaller, older, weaker fighters he was paired against. But at 175, he’ll have to reinvent himself if he doesn’t want his career to go down the drain, starting with the Morrell fight.