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David Benavidez says his experience will be too much for WBA “regular” lightweight champion David Morrell and hopes to knock him out in the rounds following his February 1 headliner.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) believes he has the edge against Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) because of the superior opposition he has faced during his 11-year professional career in many “50- 50 fights”. He doesn’t mention who he’s fought during his career in fights that were considered equal, but that’s what he claims.
Morrell has a slight advantage in youth, power, technical skills and mobility over Benavidez. It also has less wear and tear. Benavidez takes a lot of punch because he’s a volume puncher that he puts in front of his opponents and overwhelms them with shots.
He had gotten away with this style because he melted down to compete at 168 against smaller and older fighters. Now that Benavidez is fighting where he should have been all along, at 175, he’s taking a big hit, and he’ll have to change his style to avoid getting knocked out.
Benavidez vs. Morrell will headline at PBC Prime Video PPV on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“I want to prove that I am the best in the world, and the only one who is apart of Bivol and Beterbiev is David Morrell. This was the best fight I could see. It’s not the easiest fight. He’s probably the toughest besides Beterbiev and Bivol,” said David Benavidez tobin.
“He said a couple of words to me, saying I was running from him. I had to take his temperature and let him know I’ll be here all night. I’m not running from anyone, and when this fight is over I’ll he will know who is the best David,” Benavidez said of Morrell.
“Canelo was blocking my chance at greatness. I think now everyone is all about protecting their O. To me, if you want to get the money right, you have to go through the toughest fights. You have to show people what you’re made of. That’s what I’m doing with this fight.”
Canelo was doing the same thing as Benavidez with Morrell. He was not pleasing Benavidez. If he had been fighting the best opposition to build his fan base, Canelo would have fought him. The guys that Canelo fights are the fans, who bring something to the table. We saw Benavidez fail to sell when he fought Demetrius Andrade on PPV on a loaded card, and the event drew poor numbers.
“Every fight I’ve had, they’ve been tough, competitive fights where it seems like it’s 50-50. But I go in and do my thing and show why I’m the best in the world,” said Benavidez.
Benavidez’s fights have NOT been 50-50 matches in his 11 year career. He’s always been the favorite in his fights, and that’s the problem. So far he’s taken a chance with his matchup against Morrell, and he’s only taking it because he practically has to.
Benavidez’s best wins:
– Demetrius Andrade: 35
– Plant Caleb
– Oleksandr Gvozdyk: 37
– Anthony Dirrell: 38
– Ronald Gavril
“That’s the difference between him and me. He’s fought people who weren’t very good. That’s why he finishes them early,” Benavidez said of Morrell. “I’ve fought experienced people, veterans, and I finished them late “.
Morrell’s recent opponent, Radivoje Kalajdzic, is better than anyone Benavidez has fought. Gvozdyk was a good fighter before he retired in 2019, but he was out of the game for four years before coming back in 2023. This was not the prime version of Gvozdyk that Benavidez fought.
Gvozdyk had beaten three second-tier fighters before facing Benavidez on May 15 and went the 12-round distance with him in what appeared to be a draw. It was a poor performance from Benavidez, who didn’t look as good as Artur Beterbiev in his fight against Gvozdyk on October 18, 2019.
“It’s going to be my experience against him to come in and try to score a quick knockout. I’m 100 percent focused. I know this fight won’t be easy, but it’s probably going to end in the last rounds,” Benavidez said of his matchup against Morrell.
