David Benavidez says he’d be open to a fight against Oleksandr Usyk but would prefer to wait “five or six years” before facing him. He thinks he needs “more experience” before fighting the heavyweight champion Usyk (23-0, 12 KOs). Oleksandr isn’t going to wait for Benavidez. If he lacks the self-confidence to fight him now, that fight is not happening.
Usyk Wait: 5-6 Years
Benavidez says he might still take the fight if it were offered to him. He admits that it would be one of the toughest of his career, which is an understatement.
Usyk is highly skilled and would take advantage of Benavidez’s habit of leaving himself open for counts due to his volume punching. The ‘Mexican-Ecuadorian-American Monster’ Benavidez hasn’t had to change his fighting style because he was fighting smaller guys while campaigning at 168 through the first ten years of his career.
In his recent debut at 175, he took a lot of hard shots against Oleksandr Gvozdyk when he tried to overwhelm him with volume, and his face looked like it had been run over by a tractor-trailer by the end of the 12-round contest.
If Benavidez were to move up to heavyweight or cruiserweight to face Usyk, he couldn’t use volume against him without getting picked apart and embarrassed. That style only works against smaller fighters or weak ones.
In 39 days, Benavidez will be facing WBA ‘regular champ David Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) on February 22nd on PPB on Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
This is a fight that is going to show what kind of figure Benavidez has in the 175-lb division. If he can’t beat Morrell, he may have to return to 168 if he can because it’ll only get worse for him against the other killers at 175.
“I’m Going to Hurt David Morrell”
“Anybody that watches this fight is going to have a great time watching this. I’m coming in 100% ready,” said David Benavidez to Fighthype, talking about his February 22nd contest against WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell in Las Vegas.
“I’ve been training for almost four and a half months. I’m not leaving any stone unturned, and I’m very motivated for this fight. Not only to go in there to get the victory, but to get the knockout. I’m going to go in there, and I’m going to hurt David Morrell.
“I’m going to make him eat all his words, and when I knock his a** out and take his belt, he’s going to know who the best in the world is,” said Benavidez.
With Morrell’s power in either hand, he’s got an excellent chance of knocking out Benavidez in this fight if he fights the same way he’s been doing. Morrell hits too hard and will knock out Benavidez just like he did Sena Agbeko and Yamaguchi Falcão. Those guys had excellent chins going into their fights with Morrell, but he mowed them down quickly.
“I don’t think I have enough experience to go against Usyk,” said Benavidez when asked if he’d like to fight Oleksandr Usyk. “Never say never. Maybe in the future, but as of right now, I’m just focused on these guys. Maybe in five or six years, but in that time, he’ll probably be around 40 [try 42 or 43],” said Benavidez about Usyk.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Usyk. He’s the greatest of all time. If I have the opportunity to share the ring with him, I’m not going to say no, but it’s probably going top be the hardest fight I’ve had in my whole life,” said Benavidez.
It sounds weak on Benavidez’s part for him to be talking about needing more experience before fighting Usyk because he’s got plenty of pro experience to be taking this fight. Plus, he’s almost ten years younger than him.
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