Benavidez’s cruiserweight future if Morrell wins?

Coach José Benavidez Sr. predicts that his son, ‘The Mexican Monster’ David Benavidez, will “destroy” David Morrell in his light heavyweight fight in 11 days on February 1 on PBC on Prime Video PPV in Las Vegas.

This fight will show if Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is just a “fake“‘Monster,’ living off the hype he got from fighting smaller opponents at 168, or if it’s real. Morrell says he’s seen fighters like Benavidez and considers it 100% “fake.”

Now that Benavidez is fighting at 175 against a younger fighter with the same size as him, but with more power, Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) could expose him.

Exit strategy already planned?

According to Team Morrell, Benavidez is between 215 and 220. So, he has the size to reinvent himself at cruiserweight if he fails against the talented Cuban on February 1.

If Benavidez loses, he may have to decide if he wants to move up to cruiserweight to try to save his career in that weight class. Staying at 175 would be a mistake for him because if he can’t beat Morrell, he surely won’t have success against Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol.

José Sr. is already discussing a exit strategydiscussing the possibility of Benavidez moving up to cruiserweight to challenge WBA and WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramírez for their belts. He would have to wait his turn until IBF champion Jai Opetaia faces Zurdo in a three-belt unification. But any of those guys would be willing to fight Benavidez, since he is coming off a loss to Morrell.

Even if Morrell knocked him out, they would be willing to fight him because he would still be popular and probably have excuses to explain his loss. He mentioned injuries to explain why he performed poorly against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and fans believed him. He could do the same if he loses to Morrell and people would give him a pass.

“We are 100% committed to Morrell. He’s a tough fighter, a younger fighter. He is a two-time world champion and he is hungry. We’re not underestimating this guy,” José Benavidez Sr. told Sean Zittel on David Morrell, who David Benavidez faces on February 1.

“We are 100% there. David (Benavidez) is 28 years old. In my opinion, I think David is going to destroy him (Morrell). Let’s focus on that right now. David certainly has big dreams. He wants to fight the winner. Who doesn’t want to fight the winner of Bivol and Beterbiev? Maybe he even has a fight with Zurdo Ramírez at cruiserweight.

“Those fights are great. Big monsters in that division and there are big opportunities at that weight. Zurdo Ramirez is going to fight the other guy (IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia) for the belt and hopefully we will have the opportunity to do that too,” Benavidez Sr. said.