David Benavidez is already planning his strategy to defeat the winner of the February 22 rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
The ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says he will use a different game plan than all of them and will put Beterbiev (21-0, 21 KOs) under pressure.
Morrell Then Glory
It’s too early for Benavidez to consider facing the winner of that fight because he still has to beat WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell on February 1. That’s a 50-50 fight in most people’s minds, but not for Benavidez.
He is very confident that he will have no problems beating Morrell, so he finally agrees to the fight after watching the work of the Cuban against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3.
Few people give Benavidez a chance to beat Bivol or Beterbiev, but it’s no surprise that he believes he can beat them. That’s his personality. Like many fighters who have been carefully matched, Benavidez thinks he can beat anyone, which could be his undoing when he goes up against Morrell.
His PBC fighters kept Benavidez safe, and he has been fighting in a lower frame class until his last fight. That helped him.
“My biggest goal is to beat David Morrell and then move up to fight whoever is next,” David Benavidez told Sean Zittel about his February 1st goal. I think we were ranked #1 [with the WBC] in the fight against the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol. So, if that’s the case, I’m ready for that too.
“With these big fights I can build my name a lot. It’s like Canelo’s job. He went up with a loud bang [named] they don’t fight. If I don’t get that Canelo fight, I don’t really care. I am very happy with my job and I am happy with the opportunities I get. Now, it proves that I am the best in the world regardless of the weight class.
“I feel bad for people because people miss a good fight,” said Benavidez, still talking about Canelo’s fight. “That’s what we’re here for, to give people a good fight.”
Benavidez should have forgotten about Canelo years ago because he made it clear to everyone that he wouldn’t stand a chance. If Benavidez took a long layoff, he could move up to light heavyweight or cruiserweight and maybe win a world title in the meantime.
Box Beterbiev, Pressure Bivol
“They are the iron champs in the weight class,” Benavidez said of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. “Beterbiev is strong, he’s coming in. He is like a tank trying to take you out, but there is room for him to be taken out. Honestly, I thought Bivol beat him. I thought Bivol beat him and I thought Bivol beat him convincingly. That’s how you can beat that fighter.”
Benavidez is not a professional judge, so his opinion about Bivol deserving to defeat Beterbiev in their October 12th meeting is meaningless. However, before their fight, he said that he thought that Bivol would win, so he already had a bias. Beterbiev thrived under pressure, and the judges have already made the call.
Bivol is the top boxer in the 175-lb division, but he failed to knock out Beterbiev. If Bivol can’t do it, a volume puncher like Benavidez can’t either. He is not a professional boxer, and he will not be able to change the way he fights after 11 years in the sport. Benavidez is a finished product. If he gets a fight against Beterbiev, he’ll use the same style to good effect that he always has, and that would be a disaster for him. He will be another Callum Smith but without the power.
“With Bivol, you have to pressure him a lot and throw a lot of combinations,” Benavidez said. “You can’t just throw left hooks and right hooks. You have to be really smart with your combinations. So, both of them, you have to fight in two different ways, but whoever we fight, we have to be 100% ready. I will definitely be good, and it would be an amazing fight with both of those guys.”
Benavidez has sparred with Bivol before, and there were rumors that he got the better of him. However, if that were true, it would be to give up, not to fight. Bivol would be a problem for Benavidez in a real fight, where he will not perform as he is during sparring sessions.
Why Morrell Now?
“That’s why I took this fight [David Morrell] no problem because while I was waiting for that [to fight the Beterbiev vs. Bivol winner]I thought because I was the #1 contender [with WBC]because that fight ended the way it did, you have to give it the respect it deserves for a rematch,” said Benavidez.
It wasn’t until David Morrell looked out of sorts in his last fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd that Benavidez wanted to fight him. Before that fight, Benavidez and his father, Jose Benavidez Sr., wanted nothing to do with Morrell. They probably saw his weakness and decided, ‘I think he’s perfect.’
So, they were giving me a few more names, and I’m like, ‘Man, I’m not interested in any of those fights. I want big fights, and if we can’t get a big guy, we’re going to get a big fight for the guy with the biggest belt talking s***,’” Benavidez said about why he chose to fight Morrell.
The timing of Benavidez’s decision to fight Morrell is suspicious. It comes quickly after his first disappointing performance in his five-year career. Benavidez did not raise his hand to fight Morrell while destroying Sena Agbeko or Yamaguchi Falcao.
“So, that’s kind of the way we went. People have been wanting to watch this fight for a long time. Therefore, I feel that this is the best time to make the fight between me and Morrell happen. It is in my mind that I am ready to fight the best. I don’t care who it is. I’m 100% ready to fight anyone, no,” said Benavidez.
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