David Benavidez is already planning his strategy for defeating the winner of the February 22nd rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says he’ll use a different game plan for each of them and will box Beterbiev (21-0, 21 KOs) and apply pressure against Bivol.
Morrell Then Glory
It’s still too early for Benavidez to think of facing the winner of that fight because he still must defeat WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell on February 1st. That’s a 50-50 fight in most people’s minds, but not in Benavidez.
He’s ultra-confident that he’ll have no problems beating Morrell, so he finally agrees to the fight after watching the Cuban labor against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd.
Few people give Benavidez any chance of beating Bivol or Beterbiev, but it’s not surprising that he believes he can beat them. That’s his personality. Like many fighters who have been matched carefully, Benavidez thinks he can defeat anyone, which may be his undoing when he goes up against Morrell.
His matchmakers at PBC have kept Benavidez well-protected, and he’s been fighting in a division below his frame size up until his last fight. That’s helped him.
“My main objective is to put a beating on David Morrell and then go up and face whoever is next,” said David Benavidez to Sean Zittel about his immediate goal for February 1st. I think we were ranked #1 [with the WBC] in the spot to fight the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol. So, if that’s what it is, I’m 100% ready for that as well.
“With these big fights, I’m able to build my brand more and more. It’s kind of like Canelo’s career. He went up and was beating bigger [named] fighters. If I don’t get that Canelo fight, I really don’t care. I’m really happy with my career and happy with the opportunities I’m getting. Now, it’s just proving I’m the best in the world no matter what weight class.
“I just feel bad for the people because the people are missing an awesome fight,” said Benavidez, still harping about the Canelo fight. “That’s what we’re here for, to give the people good fights.”
Benavidez should have forgotten about Canelo years ago because he made it clear to everyone that he would never get the opportunity. If Benavidez had given up a long time ago, he could have moved to light heavyweight or cruiserweight and possibly won a world title by now.
Box Beterbiev, Pressure Bivol
“They’re the iron champions at the weight class,” said Benavidez about Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. “Beterbiev is the strong, coming in. He’s like a tank trying to knock you out, but there’s room for him to be outboxed. Honestly, I thought Bivol beat him. I thought Bivol beat him and I thought Bivol beat him convincingly. That’s how you can beat that fighter.”
Benavidez isn’t a professional judge, so his opinion about Bivol deserving the victory over Beterbiev in their October 12th clash is meaningless. However, he said before their fight that he thought Bivol was going to win, so he already had a bias. Beterbiev won under pressure, and the judges have already made their call.
Bivol is the best boxer in the 175-lb division, but he failed to outbox Beterbiev. If Bivol couldn’t do it, a volume puncher like Benavidez won’t either. He’s not a great boxer, and he’s not going to be able to change the way he fights after 11 years in the pro game. Benavidez is the finished product. If he does get a fight against Beterbiev, he will use the same high-output style he always has, and that would be a disaster for him. He would be another Callum Smith but without the power.
“With Bivol, you have to pressure him more and throw way more combinations,” said Benavidez. “You can’t just throw left hooks and right hooks. You have to be really intelligent with your combinations. So, both of them, you have to fight two different ways, but whoever we fight, we have to be 100% ready. I would definitely be ready, and it would be an amazing fight with both of those guys.”
Benavidez has sparred with Bivol before, and it was rumored that he had gotten the better of him. However, if that were true, it would be sparring, not a fight. Bivol would be a problem for Benavidez in a real fight, where he would not be practicing like he was during the sparring sessions.
Why Morrell Now?
“That’s why I took this fight [David Morrell] no problem because when I was waiting for that [to fight the Beterbiev vs. Bivol winner], I thought because I was the #1 contender [with WBC], because that fight ended the way it did, you have to give it the respect it deserves a rematch,” said Benavidez.
It wasn’t until David Morrell looked less than impressive in his last fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd that Benavidez wanted to fight him. Before that fight, Benavidez and his dad, Jose Benavidez Sr., wanted nothing to do with Morrell. They likely saw his weaknesses and decided, ‘I think he’s perfect.’
“So, they were giving me a few other names, and I’m like, ‘Man, I’m not interested in any of those fights. I want the big fights, and if we can’t get anyone big, we’re going to make a big fight out of a person that has a belt that talks a lot of s***,’” said Benavidez about why he chose to fight Morrell.
The timing of Benavidez’s decision to fight Morrell is suspicious. It comes immediately after his first unimpressive performance in his five-year career. Benavidez didn’t raise his hand to fight Morrell when he was destroying Sena Agbeko or Yamaguchi Falcao.
“So, that’s kind of the route we went. This is a fight that people have wanted to watch for a long time. So, I feel this is the best time to make the fight between me and Morrell happen. It’s just in my mentality that I’m ready to fight the best. I don’t care who it is. I’m 100% ready to fight whoever it is, no,” said Benavidez.
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