David Benavidez can’t look past WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell with a 12-round victory on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Jose Benavidez Sr says his son may move up to cruiserweight to challenge WBA and WBO champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez if they can’t get a title shot right away against the winner of the February 22nd rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. There is a good chance that Beterbiev-Bivol will fight the trilogy in late 2025.
He targeted Zurdo at Cruiserweight
“For some reason, if this fight with the winner of Beterbiev and Bivol doesn’t happen or whatever, we will go to cruiserweight to fight Zurdo Ramirez,” Jose Benavidez Sr. told Fight Hub TV.
We don’t know if Jose Sr. how serious are you about Benavidez moving up to cruiserweight if he can’t land the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol 2, but it’s a bad idea to think about doing so anytime soon. It’s pretty clear that after years of being blocked by Canelo Alvarez, Benavidez is impatient and will fight the best fighters without worrying about risk. You have to respect that.
If Benavidez comes up short against Zurdo Ramirez, he could win the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles and face IBF champion Jai Opetaia in a fight that the Saudis may want to stage in Riyadh.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) can’t look past Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), because that’s a fight he might lose. Second, if Benavidez were to move up to cruiserweight, it would be difficult to return to 175 to finally fight the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol.
A look at Morrell’s past
“In 175 years, these two top contenders, Bivol and Beterbiev, may end up with a trilogy. So, you’re out there watching too. I get it. It’s not fair. I understand where you’re coming from,” said Paulie Malignaggi speaking to Probox TV about David Benavidez who finds himself having to wait for big fights after failing to get the one he wanted at 168.
“I think the time right now is to think about David Morrell. He’s not a gimme, and David Morrell is in the same situation. Lest we forget. Canelo didn’t want David Morrell either. If Morrell beats Benavidez at 175, it’s the same thing for Morrell. He will be waiting for Beterbiev and Bivol.”
Benavidez and his father, Jose Sr, seem confident that Morrell is certain to win based on his match against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd. Morrell fought very badly, landing one shot, and making it easy for Radivoje to shoot back counters. Morrell guarded and let him go throughout the fight, and he didn’t attack as much as he needed to make it an easy game.
Interestingly, Morrell didn’t learn from watching Artur Beterbiev the way he dealt with Kalajdzic by throwing non-stop punches, and continuing to attack from the inside. Morrell wasn’t doing anything about it, and he looked lost.
“I think both of these guys are in the same situation, that’s why it’s not understandable that they ended up fighting each other,” said Malignaggi.
Whatever the outcome of the Beterbiev vs. Bivol on February 22, the two may fight a trilogy, which will leave the winner of the Benavidez-Morrell fight sitting and waiting.
Assuming Benavidez is serious about moving up to cruiserweight, he may be saying goodbye to his chances of defeating one of them when he returns to 175. Benavidez would be better off staying at 175 and defending the WBA title against one of the top contenders. , like Joshua Buatsi, Willy Hutchinson, or Anthony Yarde.
Moving up to cruiserweight will make it more difficult for Benavidez to get back to 175 because he will have to cut weight.
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