Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. says his “20-year-old” son, WBC interim light heavyweight champion David ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez, will beat David Morrell on February 1 and then fight the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch.
20 or 28?
I’m not sure where Benavidez Sr. is getting this bit about David being “20 years old” because he’s 28 and has a lot of mileage on his odometer.
I’d say Benavidez is closer to 38. He’s been a pro since 2013 and is already starting to fall apart physically, with multiple injuries everywhere. Even if he were 20, he’d be up against it, fighting the Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) in the main event in 23 days on PBC on Prime Video PPV.
That will be a tough fight for Benavidez, especially since he is starting to break down physically from a long career with many wars. He’s had a lot of gym wars as well because that’s his style.
Jose Sr. also states that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) could move up to cruiserweight to face the winner of the unification fight between IBF champion Jai Opetaia and WBA & WBO champ Gilberto Zurdo’ Ramirez.
Beterbiev or Bivol Next?
“We got to look impressive in order to make history and go face the other monsters of the division,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to Fight Hub TV, talking about his son, David Benavidez, needing to look good against David Morrell on February 1st.
“This is the best fight we’ve ever had. We’ve got a younger fighter. A hungry fighter and it’s going to be explosive. It’s going to be very exciting. This is a fight we need in order to display our talents and show the world that David [Benavidez] can box, David can hit, can be aggressive, can counter, and can cut the ring off.
“So, there’s a lot of things that the fans are going to see in this fight. David Benavidez is only 20-years-old [correction: He’s 28]. The plan is to keep going, and fight David Morrell, and get an opportunity with Bivol or Beterbiev and maybe even Zurdo Ramirez. That’s the plan,” said Jose Sr.
If Benavidez loses this fight, he can forget about fighting the winner of the Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2 rematch or moving up to cruiserweight to challenge Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez for his WBA and WBO titles. Jose Sr. is drunk on the success of his son from his days at 168, fighting smaller and older over-the-hill fighters. So, naturally, he’s talking like his son, Benavidez, can walk through everybody and continue to do what he’d been doing at super middleweight.
The Mexican Monster’s last fight at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th should have been a wake-up call for Jose Sr. because that match showed that he is not the same guy at light heavyweight as he was at 168.
Cruiserweight Dreams
“We want to face the monsters of the division,” said Jose Sr. “Zurdo Ramirez just got another belt [at cruiserweight]. Yesterday, we saw another champion, Jai. I think they may face each other, and maybe we’ll face the winner of that. Like I said, David is only 20 years old.
“We’re not afraid to lose our undefeated records, but we’re not going to do that. I’m very confident that he’s going to come and destroy this guy and go onto bigger and better things,” said Jose Benavidez Sr.
I hope Jose Sr. doesn’t come unglued if he sees Benavidez get knocked out by Morrell and sees all his plans go down the drain. This would have happened anyway if Benavidez had been fighting where he should have been all along, at 175, rather than melting down to beat smaller fighters at 168.
This is typical stuff that we see nowadays, with younger fighters fighting in weight classes that they have no business competing at. They can get away with this when they’re younger, but when they reach their late 20s or early 30s, the jig is up. They’re forced to compete in the weight classes suited for their size.
Read the full article here
