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David Benavidez says his experience will be too much for ‘regular’ WBA light heavyweight champion David Morrell and hopes to knock him out in the closing rounds on their main card on February 1.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) believes he has an advantage against Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) due to the superior opposition he has faced during his 11-year professional career in many “50-50” fights. He doesn’t mention who he fought during his career in fights that were considered even money, 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 hits because he is a volume puncher who gets in front of his opponents and overwhelms them with shots.
He had gotten away with that 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 is taking a hard hit and will have to change his style to avoid getting knocked out.
Benavidez vs. Morrell to head PBC on main video PPV on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“I want to show that I am the best in the world and the only one besides Bivol and Beterbiev is David Morrell. That was the best fight I could see. It’s not the easiest fight. “He is probably the most difficult besides Beterbiev and Bivol,” David Benavidez told tobin.
“He had a couple of words for me, saying I was running away from him. I had to take his temperature and let him know I’ll be here all night. “I’m not going to run from anyone, and when this fight is over, he will know who the best David is,” Benavidez said of Morrell.
“Canelo was blocking my opportunity to achieve greatness. I think now everyone is looking to protect their O. To me, if you want to get the right money, you have to go through the toughest fights. You have to show people what you are 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 opponent to build his fan base, Canelo would have fought him. The guys Canelo fights are the ones who have fans, who bring something to the table. We’ve seen how Benavidez couldn’t sell when he fought on PPV against Demetrius Andrade on a loaded card, and the event had bad numbers.
“Every fight I’ve taken, they’ve been tough, competitive fights where it seems like they’re 50-50. But I come in and do my thing and show why I’m the best in the world,” Benavidez said.
Benavidez’s fights have NOT been 50-50 during his 11-year career. He has always been the favorite in his fights and that is the problem. He’s taken risks so far with his matchup against Morrell, and he’s only doing it because it’s almost necessary.
Benavidez’s best wins:
– Demetrio Andrade: 35
– Caleb Plant
– Oleksandr Gvozdyk: 37
–Anthony Dirrell: 38
–Ronald Gavril
“That’s the difference between him and me. He has fought against people who were not really good. That’s why he’s finishing them early,” Benavidez said of Morrell. “I’ve fought against experienced people, veterans, and I finished them late.”
Morrell’s recent opponent, Radivoje Kalajdzic, is better than anyone Benavidez has ever fought. Gvozdyk was a good fighter before retiring in 2019, but he was out of the game for four years before returning in 2023. This was not the main version of Gvozdyk that Benavidez fought.
Gvozdyk had beaten three second-tier fighters before facing Benavidez on May 15 and went the distance 12 rounds with him in a fight that appeared to be a draw. That 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, going in and trying to score a quick knockout. I am 100% focused. I know this fight is not going to be easy, but it will probably end in the later rounds,” Benavidez said of his match against Morrell.
