Benavidez’s Anger Issues: Morrell Advantage?

David Benavidez says he’ll use “everything” Cuban David Morrell has said about him to “fuel” his fire when they meet on Feb. 1 in their light heavyweight headliner at PBC on Prime Video PPV at T- Las Vegas Mobile Arena. .

WBA ‘regular’ champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) just pointed out the obvious, saying that Benavidez has been avoiding him since 2022 and that he is a “fat chicken” and not the ‘Mexican Monster’ tough guy he tries to make fans believe he is. Morrell sees Benavidez as a “fake” poser and a “chicken.”

Losing control?

“When I get in the ring, I’m trying to do as much damage as possible because if I don’t get you, they’re trying to catch me. So, I take it very seriously,” said David Benavidez Miami Hustle about his fight against David Morrell on February 1st.

“I feel like every fighter I go in the ring with, they’re trying to take food off my plate and I’m not going to let that happen. David Morrell has been talking shit for a long time. He’s been trying to say no. He’s been putting my name in his mouth .

“He thought he’d never fight me. So once we agreed to the fight, he tried to act like he didn’t say shit and didn’t say anything about me. I’m using everything he said about me to fuel the fight,” he said. Benavidez said about Morrell.

It looks like Benavidez will fight with anger and emotion against Morrell and put himself in a position to get caught by one of Morrell’s big power shots. That’s Benavidez’s problem. He is hot headed and has a temper problem.

Maybe that’s why he acted up and pushed Morrell when he refused to shake his head during his Dec. 17 media workout in Miami. He could not bear the humiliation of Morrell refusing his handshake. So he pushed him. He’s lucky Morrell didn’t hurt him with his heavy WBA “regular” belt he threw at him in response because it could have been cut to ribbons if he’d hit him in the head.

Fighting with anger against a calm fighter like Morrell, who has technical skills honed by years of playing in the Cuban amateur team, is a mistake.

If Benavidez fights like a wild man against Morrell, he will get knocked out. This guy has one punch power and has competed with two time Cuban Olympic gold medalist July Cessar La Creu i Osleys Iglesias. These are fighters superior to anyone Benavidez has fought in his 12 year professional career, and certainly better than him.

“I can’t say because I haven’t been in the ring with him, but on paper it looks like he has everything,” Benavidez said when asked if David Morrell is his toughest opponent to date. “He’s got range, he’s got speed, he’s got footwork and he’s got power. This shit doesn’t scare me.”

No one on Benavidez’s resume matches Morrell’s size, youth, technical ability or power. This is easily the best fighter he will have fought, and if he loses, he will prove it on February 1st. Gvozdyk used to be a good fighter years ago, but when Benavidez fought him, he was 37 years old, coming off a four-year layoff and a knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev. If Benavidez had fought the same version of Gvozdyk that knocked out Adonis Stevenson, he would have lost to him.

“I’ve been boxing for 25 years. I like it when I see a strong fighter that I’m about to get in the ring with because the most satisfying thing for me is to shut up people who think I can’t win, who think I they will knock out. I know what I can do, and that’s why I accepted this challenge,” said Benavidez.

Boxing fans have doubted Benavidez’s ability to beat Morrell for years. They have also doubted his ability to compete in a natural division of his massive cruiserweight bracket, at 200 or 175.

Benavidez should have fought Morrell years ago and moved up to lightweight to face Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Also, Benavidez should have fought Jai Opetaia at cruiserweight by now because he’s had the size to compete in that weight class for years. Instead of getting any of those fights, Benavidez played it safe, melted down to 168, feasted on smaller and bigger fighters, and didn’t get the fight he wanted against Canelo Alvarez.

Delayed decision

“This is a challenge that not too many people are willing to take on at the age of 168 or 175. Therefore, the most difficult challenges, I accept them. I want to be the most dominant fighter out there. So, I will continue to do what I have to do,” said Benavidez.

It took three years for Benavidez to finally accept the challenge from Cuban Morrell, who had been calling him since 2022. Benavidez didn’t want to fight Morrell, but changed his mind after his less-than-impressive fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic in 3 August in Los Angeles.

This means that Benavidez is not as fearless as he portrays himself to be because if he wasn’t afraid, he would have fought Morrell in 2022 instead of choosing to fight these guys:

– Oleksandr Gvozdyk
– Demetrius Andrade
– Plant Caleb
– David Lemieux