Benavidez Mr. forget the child’s age, still predict victory

Coach José Benavidez Sr. says his “20 years” son, interim WBC light heavyweight champion David ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez, will beat David Morrell on February 1st and then fight the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch.

20 or 28?

Not sure where Benavidez gets Mr. that bit about David being “20 years old” because he is 28 and has a lot of mileage on the odometer.

I’d say it’s Benavidez closer to 38. He has been a professional since 2013 and is already starting to break down physically, with multiple injuries all over the place. Even if he was 20 years old, he would fight it out, fighting Cuba’s Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) in the main event in 23 days on PBC on Prime Video PPV.

It will be a tough fight for Benavidez, especially as he is starting to break down physically from a long career with many wars. He’s also had a lot of gym wars because that’s his style.

Jose Mr. also claims Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) could move up to cruiserweight to face the winner of the unification fight between IBF champion Jai Opetaia and WBA/WBO champion Gilberto Left-handed Ramirez

Beterbiev or Bivol Next?

“We have to look impressive to make history and face the other monsters in the division,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. Fight Hub TVtalking about the need for his son, David Benavidez, to look good against David Morrell on February 1st.

“This is the best fight we’ve ever had. We’ve got a younger fighter. A hungry fighter and he’s going to be explosive. It’s going to be very exciting. This is a fight we need to showcase our talent and show the world that David (Benavidez) can box , David can hit, he can be aggressive, he can counter and he can cut the ring.

“So there’s a lot that the fans are going to see in this fight. David Benavidez is only 20 years old (correction: he’s 28). The plan is to move on, fight David Morrell and get a chance with Bivol or Beterbiev and maybe even Zurdo Ramírez. This is the plan,” said Jose Sr.

If Benavidez loses this fight, he can forget about fighting the winner of the Beterbiev vs. rematch. Bivol 2 or move up to cruiserweight to challenge Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramírez for his WBA and WBO titles. Jose Mr. he’s drunk on his son’s success since his days at 168, fighting smaller and older fighters on the mountain. So, naturally, he’s talking as if his son, Benavidez, could go through everybody and keep doing what he’s been doing at super middleweight.

The Mexican monster’s last fight at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15 should have been a wake-up call for Jose Sr. because this match showed that he is not the same type of light heavyweight that he was at 168.

Cruiserweight Dreams

“We want to go up against the monsters of the division,” Jose Sr. said. “Zurdo Ramirez just got another (cruiserweight) belt. We saw another champion yesterday, Jai. I think they can face each other, and maybe we’ll face the winner of that. Like I said, David is only 20 years old.

“We’re not afraid of losing our unbeaten records, but we won’t. I’m very confident that he’s going to come and destroy this guy and move on to bigger and better things,” Jose Benavidez Sr. said.

I hope Jose Mr. don’t be dissuaded if he sees Benavidez knocked out by Morrell and sees all his plans go to waste. This would have happened anyway if Benavidez had been fighting where he should have been all along, at 175, instead of melting down to beat smaller fighters at 168.

These are typical things we see today, with younger fighters fighting in weight classes they have no business competing in. They can get away with it when they’re younger, but by the time they hit their 20s or early 30s, the template is on. They are forced to compete in weight classes appropriate to their size.