WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez says he took the fight against WBA ‘regular’ champ David Morrell Jr. because he wanted to show fans that he’s not “scared” of him for their 12-round headliner on February 1st.
It was pretty obvious that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) was hesitant to fight the former Cuban amateur star Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) because he had called him out for a solid two years. He didn’t want to fight him.
If Benavidez had been fighting A-level fighters during those two years, no one would have doubted his courage. Still, he was facing creampuffs like David Lemieux, Kyrone David, Caleb Plant, and Demetrius Andrade.
A Fight Born from Fear
Benavidez choosing to fight them instead of Morrell made it obvious that he was afraid of the Cuban fighter. That’s why he’s so upset now because he knows himself that he didn’t want any part of fighting him, and he hates it that fans recognized his fear.
“The reason I took this fight is because Morrell has been talking a lot, saying I’m scared. This is my way of proving that it doesn’t matter who it is; I’m going to get them in the ring sooner or later. I told people that, and we’re here. February 1st, it’s going to be a big fight. I’m excited to add that WBA title to my collection of belts,” said David Benavidez to Fight Hub TV, talking about his match against David Morrell in 2025.
Benavidez took this fight against Morrell because it was the biggest payday he could get and because he needed to put himself in a position to fight the winner of the rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Benavidez and the WBC had been criticized for being given an immediate shot at fighting in a 175-lb title eliminator in his first fight at light heavyweight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th.
Many fans felt that Benavidez should have had to earn a mandatory spot by beating relevant top contenders like Joshua Buatsi, Anthony Yarde, and Willy Hutchinson before being installed as the WBC 175-lb mandatory for champion Artur Beterbiev’s title. Taking the Morrell fight will give Benavidez a chance to show that he rates a world title fight.
“Proving all the people wrong. All the people think he’s going to beat me, proving them wrong and solidifying myself as the most dangerous fighter in my weight class [175] today,” Benavidez continued.
This fight is likely to end badly for Benavidez, showing the fans that his past success at 168 was due to him using weight manipulation to compete in a division well below his size. He was a modern-day Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. For those that don’t remember.
Chavez Jr. is a guy who found success earlier in his career when he campaigned at middleweight and would look like a light heavyweight after rehydrating. Once he could no longer make 160, his career fell apart, fighting opposition his own size at 168 and 175. Benavidez is heading in the same direction. We already saw that in Benavidez’s debut at 175 against a washed-up 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th.
Can Benavidez Handle Morrell’s Power?
“He’s a great fighter, but I have a better ability to think. I have more speed, more power, and more experience,” said Benavidez, rating himself above Morrell in those areas. “I feel like this is going to be a great fight to showcase my talent, my skills and show I’m the baddest man at 175.”
Benavidez is wrong. He’s not faster and definitely NOT more powerful than Morrell. There’s a big difference between them in both of those areas. Morrell has superior hand speed than Benavidez and possesses one-punch power.
Even undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev doesn’t have the same punching power as Morrell. The Cuban is the #1 power puncher in the 175-lb division. Benavidez is not in the top 10 in the power department.
Biggest punchers at 175:
- David Morrell
- Artur Beterbiev
- Joshua Buatsi
- Anthony Yarde
- Callum Smith
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk
- Radivoje Kalajdzic
- Dmitry Bivol
- Jean Pascal
- Dan Azeez
“I want to be the most dominant champion in this weight class, and the only way to show that is by beating other dominant fighters. I felt he got exposed a little, but he’s been calling for this fight over and over again,” said Benavidez about Morrell’s last fight against former world title challenger Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd.
It’s not surprising that Benavidez isn’t willing to praise Morrell for his win over Kalajdzic because he would admit that his opponent outperformed him compared to his very poor debut at 175.
Morrell looked far better against Kalajdzic than Benavidez did in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, running out of gas after six rounds and taking massive punishment in the self half of the fight. Many fans felt that the fight should have been a draw because Gvozdyk had dominated the last six rounds. In Morrell’s case, he appeared to win all 12 rounds against Kalajdzic.
“I feel like this fight is going to be my best fight up to this date, but I’m getting better and better,” said Benavidez.
The reality is that Benavidez is NOT getting better if you judge him by his last performance against Gvozdyk on June 15th. He got exposed in that fight to be a weight bully, who, once he finally fought someone his size, was an average fighter, no better than any of the top 15 contenders at light heavyweight.
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