Benavidez targets Beterbiev & Bivol after Morrell

David Benavidez is already planning his strategy to defeat the winner of the Feb. 22 rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says he’ll use a different game plan for each of them and frame Beterbiev (21-0, 21 KOs) and pressure Bivol.

Morrell Then Glory

It is still too early for Benavidez to think about facing the winner of this fight as he has yet to defeat WBA “regular” light heavyweight champion David Morrell on February 1st. This is a 50-50 fight in most people’s minds, but not Benavidez.

He is very confident that he will have no problem beating Morrell, so he finally accepts the fight after seeing the Cuban work against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd.

Few people give Benavidez any chance of beating Bivol or Beterbiev, but it’s no wonder he believes he can beat them. This is his personality. Like many fighters who have been carefully matched, Benavidez believes he can beat anyone, which may be his undoing when he faces Morrell.

His matchmakers at PBC have kept Benavidez well protected and he has been fighting in a division below his frame size until his last fight. This has helped him.

“My main goal is to beat up David Morrell and then go up and face whoever is next,” David Benavidez told Sean Zittel on his immediate goal for February 1st. I think we were ranked #1 (with the WBC) in the place to fight the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol. So if that’s what it is, I’m 100% ready for that too.

“With these great fights, I am able to build my brand more and more. It’s like Canelo’s career. He came up and was beating bigger (named) fighters. If I don’t get that Canelo fight, I really don’t care. I am very happy with my career and happy with the opportunities I have. Now, it’s just proving that I’m the best in the world, regardless of weight class.

“I feel bad for people because people are losing an amazing fight,” Benavidez said, still talking about the Canelo fight. “That’s why we’re here, to give people good fights.”

Benavidez should have forgotten about Canelo years ago because he made it clear to everyone that he would never stand a chance. If Benavidez had given up a long time ago, he could have moved up to lightweight or cruiserweight and possibly won a world title by now.

Box Beterbiev, Pressure Bivol

“They’re the iron champs in the weight class,” Benavidez said of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. “Beterbiev is the strong one, coming in. He’s like a tank trying to knock you out, but there’s room to get sent. Honestly, I thought Bivol beat him. I thought Bivol beat him and I thought the Bivol beat him convincingly. That’s how you beat this fighter.”

Benavidez is not a professional judge, so his opinion of Bivol deserving of a win over Beterbiev in their October 12th matchup is meaningless. However, he said before their fight that he thought Bivol was going to win, so he already had a bias. Beterbiev won under pressure, and the judges have already made their call.

Bivol is the top boxer in the 175-pound division, but he couldn’t get past Beterbiev. If Bivol couldn’t do it, a volume punch like Benavidez won’t either. He’s not a great boxer, and he won’t be able to change the way he fights after 11 years in the professional game. Benavidez is the finished product. If he gets a fight against Beterbiev, he’ll use the same high performance style he’s always had, and that would be a disaster for him. He would be another Callum Smith but without the power.

“With Bivol, you have to pressure him more and throw more combinations,” Benavidez said. “You can’t just throw left hooks and right hooks. You have to be very smart with your combinations. So both of you, you have to fight two different ways, but whoever we fight, we have to be 100% ready. I would definitely be ready, and it would be an amazing fight with those two guys.”

Benavidez has fought Bivol before, and was rumored to have beaten him. However, if that were true, it would be a bout, not a fight. Bivol would be a problem for Benavidez in a real fight, where he wouldn’t train like he did during sparring.

Why Morrell Now?

“That’s why I took this fight (David Morrell) without any problem because when I was waiting for this (to fight the winner of Beterbiev vs. Bivol), I thought because he was the No. 1 contender (with WBC), because that fight finished him the way he did, you have to give him the respect he deserves for a rematch,” Benavidez said.

It wasn’t until David Morrell looked less than impressive in his last fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd that Benavidez wanted to fight him. Before that fight, Benavidez and his father, Jose Benavidez Sr., wanted nothing to do with Morrell. They probably saw his weaknesses and decided, “I think he’s perfect.”

“So they threw me a few more names, and I was like, ‘Man, I’m not interested in any of these fights. I want the big fights, and if we can’t make anybody big, we’re going to make a big fight with a guy who has a belt that talks a lot of shit,” Benavidez said about why he chose to fight Morrell.

The timing of Benavidez’s decision to fight Morrell is suspect. It comes immediately after his first unimpressive performance in his five-year career. Benavidez didn’t raise his hand to fight Morrell when he was destroying Sena Agbeko or Yamaguchi Falcao.

“So, this is the route we took. This is a fight people have been wanting to see for a long time. So I think this is the best time to make the fight between me and Morrell happen. Only in my mindset am I ready to fight against the best. I don’t care who it is. I’m 100% ready to fight whoever, no,” said Benavidez.