Is Benavidez cracking under pressure? Morrell exposes the anxieties before the fight

David Morrell says “Mexican monster” David Benavidez shouldn’t be “scared” and make pre-fight excuses ahead of their February 1 light heavyweight bout. Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) has spoken about his concerns about Morrell’s VADA tests.

Desperate measures

Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) sees Benavidez, interim WBC 175-pound champion cooking a PED excuse to give his fans to explain “what went wrong” after losing the fight. If he tells fans he thinks Morrell, 26, was dirty, they’ll be nice and won’t abandon him in droves.

With no excuse to explain defeat, fans will jump overboard on the sinking Benavidez ship, as rats coming out of a crashing vessel on the high seas It may be impossible for him to bring them back unless he comes up with an excuse they will believe.

Many were ready to give Benavidez a pass for his last fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk when he said he was struggling with injuries. No x-rays were shown to check the injuries, but fans still believed him because it was the first time.

Hopefully, Benavidez will show class if he loses instead of talking about his suspicions without any supporting information to prove them.

Cuba’s Morrell says Benanavidez has been fighting guys who weren’t his level his entire career, but now that he’s facing someone his level, he’s scared and talks PEDs to cushion the blow if he gets hit .

Benavidez’s insecurity

“He shouldn’t be afraid. His whole life, he’s been fighting fighters that aren’t on his level. That’s what happens when they’re afraid. They start using excuses all over the place,” said David Morrell Sean Zittelresponding to talk of VADA testing ahead of his February 1 fight.

This is the first time in Benavidez’s 12-year pro career that he’s fought someone in a 50-50 fight, and it’s amazing how he’s stooped to that level to stir up the conversation about PEDs. Is it a mind game for Benavidez to gain a much-needed advantage against the younger, faster, stronger and more talented Morrell?

You can totally understand why Benavidez would be worried about this fight. If he loses, his dreams of a mega-million fight against the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch will be lost, and he will also never get a chance to fight Canelo Alvarez. He would be just one of the contenders at 175, fighting in the salt mines, not making much money.