David Benavidez and WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell both weighed in at 174.2 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in for their 12-round war this Saturday night, live on PBC on Amazon on Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Weight Drain Game
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) has looked like a vampire this week, with his emaciated, lifeless appearance. He’s been cutting weight to get down to 175, and it’s obviously been a nightmare for him.
He will likely rehydrate up to 200 lbs for the fight against Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) and have a weight advantage inside the ring. This isn’t intentional on Benavidez’s part. He’s been a cruiserweight in size for years, but due to his youth, he’s been able to drain down to compete at 168 and now 175. As the saying goes, ‘Once a weight bully, always a weight bully.’
The sanctioning bodies should all implement 10-lb rehydration clauses to prevent fighters from rehydrating enormous amounts of weight. This should be a standard rule in every division with all governing bodies for safety purposes.
His weight manipulation will catch up to him eventually, as with every fighter competing in divisions well below where they should be. In Benavidez’s last fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, it backfired on him when he gassed out after six rounds and took a horrendous beating that he won’t soon forget.
We could see the same thing happen on Saturday night, but Morrell hits too hard for Benavidez to make it the full 12 like he did against the 37-year-old Gvozdykon on June 15th last year.
Official Weights
David Benavidez 174.2 vs. David Morrell 174.2
Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz 138.6 vs. Angel Fierro 139
“With this guy, there’s no respect,” said David Benavidez to the media, talking about David Morrell. “‘Peace & love,’” said Benavidez, mocking what Morrell had said during their final press conference on Thursday. “I’m not surprised because he’s scared.
“They didn’t think I would take it. They thought I was ducking them. It wasn’t that I was ducking them. I was getting bigger fights because he had to build his name up,” said Benavidez about Morrell.
That sounds like typical hogwash from Benavidez, saying he chose not to fight Morrell because he was taking “bigger fights.” Do you call these guys “bigger fights” for Benavidez than Morrell?
Caleb Plant
Demetrius Andrade
Oleksandr Gvozdyk
Kyrone Davis
David Lemieux
Ronald Ellis
Those are NOT bigger fights than Morrell’s, but if Benavidez wanted to avoid the talented Cuban, it made sense for him to take on those lesser guys. Plant is the best of those fighters, but he’d already been knocked out by Canelo and shown that he has no power. He’s a finesse-level fighter, and he’s way smaller than Benavidez.
“When I said I want to take this fight, they were in a position where they couldn’t say no,” said Benavidez about Team Morrell. “Now that the time is here, he’s not saying nothing. He’s scared. I can tell in his eyes. I can feel somebody’s fear, and I feel 100% with David Morrell, he’s scared of me.”
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