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José Benavidez Sr. says he wants his son, David Benavidez, to get credit from fans after he “destroys” WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell, starting now on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
José Sr. feels that his son, ‘The Mexican Monster’, has not received the credit he deserved for his 12-year long career, which includes wins against Caleb Plant, Demetrius Andrade, Oleksandr Gvozdyk and David Lemieux.
Benavidez’s resume lacks a signature victory over a fighter at an elite level. He has always had a large size advantage over his opponent due to his decision to fight a division under his size for 11 years. Jose Sr. and David seem have a chip on your shoulders and they seem bitter despite their success.
“Drown” the Cuban star
Benavész has finally moved up to 175 and faces his first credible opponent, who is not old or much smaller than him, in Morrell (11-0, 9 KOS). It’s not a guess as to how this fight will turn out.
“He was a very decorated, two-division world champion. So, hopefully, we’re going to get the credit for beating a legitimate fighter,” said José Benavidez Sr. to combat about former Cuban amateur star David Morrell having experience that a fighter with many professional fights would have.
“We have our game plan of what we are going to do with this guy (Morrell). We will take him to the deep waters and try to drown him. Let’s see if he can swim. Amateur and professional, it’s a little different. But you’re fighting David Benavász, “The Mexican Monster.”
“It’s not an easy fight for any of us. Not for him, not for us. We have to prove ourselves. We want to make history. These are the kind of fights we want. Fights that will motivate you and make you learn and improve and improve,” Benavidez Sr. said.
For David Benavidez to make history, he will need to beat the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. rematch. Dmitry Bivol 2. He will also need to move up to cruiserweight and defeat Jai Opetaia. That might be too much for Benavidez to accomplish, and that assumes he emerges victorious against Morrell.
“When we fought ‘Boo Boo’ (Demetrius Andrade), a lot of people said that David was going to be exposed and made him look like an amateur. Now, they are saying the same thing about the Cuban. ‘Oh my God, he’s so fast. He is this. He is that one. ‘Jose Sr. said.
Most boxing fans felt that 36-year-old Demetrius Andrade was too old, inactive and small for him to beat the much younger and much bigger Benavász. On fight night, Benavész looked like a cruiserweight inside the ring, and there was no way for the much smaller Andrade to win.
“I’m happy to hear that because it motivates us. Even David Morrell says that David fights like a robot. Walk and fight like a robot. But forget that it’s an ai robot, so it won’t see the hits coming.
“A lot of people say it’s a 50-50 fight. I don’t think so. In my opinion, we are going to destroy this guy. David is on another level,” Benavidez Sr. said of his son.
A father’s hope
José Sr. can take this loss hard if his son, Benavész, loses to Morrell because this is the last of his sons to have a real career.
He has pinned his hopes on David Benavidez becoming a star, but it hasn’t happened since he’s been in the game for 12 years. That’s when many fighters get swept away and leave the sport.
José Benavíz Jr’s once promising career has fallen apart since his loss to Terence Crawford in 2018. If David loses to Morrell, that’s it for José Sr unless he can come back from the loss, which may not be easy because the division of 175 lb is stacked.
