Former super middleweight titleholder David Benavidez should pump the brakes on any potential bout with light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, according to Sergio Mora.
Mora, a former junior welterweight belt holder and co-host of “Boxing With Mannix and Mora” recently said on the podcast that he had concerns about Benavidez’s power at light heavyweight against an opponent at the level of Beterbiev.
“I still believe that Benavidez is not really a legitimate puncher at 175,” Mora said, “and guys that have been naturally at light heavyweight are gonna have the upper hand on him.”
This has been a common take following Benavidez’s first outing above super middleweight, a unanimous decision win over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June at 175lbs. Benavidez looked sharp and effective through the first half of the bout, but he failed to seriously hurt Gvozdyk at any point.
Nonetheless, Benavidez won comfortably, and spoke of injured tendons in both hands afterwards. But the fight is the source of some doubts that Benavidez can live up to his moniker of “The Mexican Monster” at light heavyweight.
Mora, though, took the notion a few steps further when his co-host, Chris Mannix, discussed matching the winners of Benavidez-David Morrell Jnr and the Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol rematch, and zeroed in on the potential crowd-pleasing violence of Beterbiev-Benavidez.
“It’s a great fight, man,” Mannix said in favor of the matchup. “Great fight at 175.”
“Beterbiev would be more than a 2-to-1 favorite, maybe a 3- or 4-to-1 favorite against Benavidez,” Mora responded. “At 175, [Benavidez] has to be moved in a careful fashion.”
Mora went on to argue that Beterbiev would pose too much risk for Benavidez, and that Benavidez should seek a more lucrative fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or simply wait a while to take on Beterbiev.
“The age is on his side,” Mora said. “Age is not on Beterbiev’s side. So just age this guy out. Let this monster go out, and then you can be the top dog and reign for the next five years.”
Mannix reacted incredulously, pointing out that Beterbiev is already nearing 40.
“You gotta be careful. … Fights like that can change your health,” Mora said, pointing to the long line of great boxing champions who have waited out legendary fighters to beat versions diminished by age.
Waiting out a monstrous opponent is indeed a well-worn tactic even among Hall of Famers, but 29 fights into his career and left high and dry by Canelo, Benavidez seems determined to reach his ceiling. To fight Morrell only to shrink from undisputed champion Beterbiev would be a puzzling maneuver after a shot at the super middleweight belts eluded Benavidez for so long.
Mannix seemed to be thinking along the same lines. At 39, Beterbiev isn’t exactly a spring chicken.
“When did you retire, 38?” Mannix asked Mora.
“Thirty-eight years old – and it felt like I was 40, because my legs weren’t there anymore,” Mora said.
Still, Mora stuck to his claim that Benavidez is considerably less of a threat at 175: “Beterbiev is a wrecking ball, and you need to tread lightly whenever you’re considering fighting him, especially if you’re moving up in weight. Because Benavidez, mark my words, is not a monster at 175.”
Perhaps something everybody could agree on is that Benavidez has to beat Morrell before worrying about Beterbiev.
Owen Lewis is a former intern at Defector media and writes and edits for BoxingScene. His beats are tennis, boxing, books, travel and anything else that satisfies his meager attention span. He is on Bluesky.
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