Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. says his son, WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez, will “hurt” WBA ‘regular’ champ David Morrell on February 1st in their last in Las Vegas. Jose Sr. states that Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) hasn’t been on this “stage” before, whereas Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) has.
Can Benavidez Hurt Morrell?
Jose Sr. feels that the 26-year-old Morrell will crumble from the pressure of having all the attention on him. It sounds like wishful thinking on Papa Benavidez’s part because what we saw in the Mexican Monster’s debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk was that he’s a mere mortal now that he’s moved up in weight from 168.
That fight showed that Benavidez may need to start thinking of a return to the super middleweight division if things fall apart for him at light heavyweight. If Benavidez loses to Morrell by knockout, as some suggest, he needs to trim down and try to return to 168.
Like many fighters that move up in weight, Benavidez isn’t the same guy and doesn’t fit in the 175-lb division like Morrell. In his debut at light heavyweight, the Cuban talent Morrell hurt Radivoje Kalajdzic repeatedly with single shots to the head, putting him in trouble almost immediately in the first round and continuing to stagger him throughout.
No one had ever done this to Kalajdzic before, not even Artur Beterbiev. Morrell’s power at 175 is higher than any top-tier fighter at light heavyweight.
Examining Benavidez’s Frame
In contrast, Benavidez’s power, or lack thereof, is that of a mid-range 168-pounder, and one reason for that is his weak, emaciated upper body. Benavidez has a withered, frail upper body. It’s always been like that, but at 175, it’s more of a hindrance against the powerful apex predators in this weight class, like David Morrell.
“People are saying that he’s [Benavidez] not the same. I was about to cancel that fight [Oleksandr Gvozdyk]. He injured his right hand. It’s good now, and he had a cut over his eye two weeks before the fight,” said Jose Benavidez Sr. to Fight Hub TV about David Benavodez’s poor performance in his last fight on June 15th.
“He’s strong, healthy, motivated, and we’re going to hurt David Morrell on February 1st. He’s [Benavidez] the one that called Al Haymon and said he wanted the fight with David Morrell. I want to thank David Morrell’s team. It was an easy fight to make.
“He does possess power, IQ, and speed. Plus, he’s a left-hander,” said Jose Sr. about Morrell. “We’re excited to fight David Morrell. “I’m happy that people want to see this fight. A lot of people think Morrell can win. There’s levels to boxing, and David [Benavidez] has been at this kind of stage already. This is Morrell’s first stage, fighting for two titles. I think David is going to be the winner.”
Fans aren’t buying Benavidez’s dual hand injury excuses from his fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15h. Benavidez was slapping with his punches just like he always had at 168. He’s NOT the same fighter at 175 as he was at super middleweight, and he won’t be.
Benavidez’s Lack of Power at 175
Benavidez is a textbook example of a weight bully. Now that he’s fighting close to his proper weight class, he’s just a shell of his former self. He should be at cruiserweight, but at least 175, he’s closer, and his power isn’t nearly good enough to dominate in this weight class like it was at 168.
Benavidez cannot afford to keep posting up in front of his opposition, focusing on volume punching. He took a career’s worth of punishment to the head by the heavy-handed Gvozdyk, but it won’t end well for him if he attempts that against David Morrell. He’s the #1 power-puncher in the light heavyweight division, the apex predator, and will hurt Benavidez.
Like always, Benavidez threw machine gun combinations, but the difference was that it didn’t faze the equally big and more powerful Gvozdyk. Benavidez wore down rapidly from the pace, throwing so many punches while carrying extra weight and getting hit harder than he’d ever been during his 11 years fighting against smaller opposition at 168.
“I came up to [Morrell] and said, ‘We’re going to take that bell away from you.’ He [Benavidez] fought everybody from 168 to 175 in sparring, and he’s a world champion [correction: WBC interim 175-lb champion, NOT world champ]. That’s why they call him the ‘Mexican Monster,’” said Jose Sr. about Benavidez.
Jose Sr. is going way overboard by saying that Benavidez has fought “everybody” at super middleweight and light heavyweight. Benavidez did NOT fight everybody at 168 or 175. His best win at 168 came against Caleb Plant, and that guy was almost knocked out in his last fight by Trevor McCumby.
The ‘Mexican Monster’ fought largely older guys, and he’s only got one fight under his belt at 175 against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk. That guy was retired for four years from 2019 to 2023 and only recently staged a comeback last year.
At super middleweight, Benavidez didn’t fight any of these Killers:
Canelo Alvarez
Jaime Munguia
Christian Mbilli
Osleys Iglesias
Diego Pacheco
Edgar Berlanga
The reality is that Benavidez was as carefully matched at super middleweight as Edgar Berlanga, but he and his dad, Jose Sr, did a lot of talking to make it seem like he was doing more than he actually was.
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