David Benavidez says he will try to knock down WBA 'regular' light heavyweight champion David Morrell and 'hurt him in every round' in their title fight in 40 days on February 1st on PBC on Prime Video PPV at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Walking Morrell Down
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) thinks he can “hurt” Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), and wants to see if he has “heart” by putting pressure on him. This could be a mistake for 'Mexican Monster' Benavidez to try to beat Morrell in this fight as this is arguably the biggest puncher in the 175lb division. He can walk into something and get knocked out.
For most of the 28-year-old Benavidez's career, he has competed at a weight class below his size, exhausting himself to compete at 168 instead of where he should be at 175. As such, fans have labeled him a 'thug at weight,' and a difficult is to challenge this when we see him rehydrated during his fights. It resembles a cruiser.
Morrell is about the same size as Benavidez, but has more power. He doesn't have a belly like Fury does, because he cuts weight between fights and doesn't enjoy delicacies.
Morrell's chin testing
“I definitely think I can hurt him. I'm going to make my game plan the best I can to try to hurt him as much as possible,” David Benavidez told the Sean Zitteltalking about what he is focused on for his bout against WBA 'regular' light heavyweight champion David Morrell on February 1st.
“If the knockout comes, it comes. If it doesn't, it won't. My game plan is going to be on him all night and literally try to hurt him every round. For him, giving up, I don't know. That is the question. I want to see if David Morrell really has that heart or if he has that dog in him.
“I'm going to try to hurt him in every round, and we'll see what happens. I feel really strong for this fight. All is well at the moment. I'm unharmed. I trained very well. I've been training for a long time and I'm ready for this,” said Benavidez.
In Benavidez's debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, his striking didn't affect him in their June 15 clash. He looked like an average puncher and ate a lot of heavy punches from Gvozdyk in that fight. Recently, Benavidez has blamed a whole host of different injuries for his poor performance, making him sound like the walking wounded for that fight.
David's punches looked like they were thrown with the same power as when he was fighting at 168. The only difference was that he was fighting a guy the same size, and that had no effect. Benavidez's injuries could be a sign that he is physically breaking down after a long sporting career. He has been fighting for more than 10 years and is approaching thirty.
Fighters are usually done by that point in their careers unless they are genetically special. As Benavidez suffers, multiple injuries signal that he is coming to an end like normal fighters and not one of the special ones.
Benavidez's apologies
“I am ready to excel in my career and face the biggest challenges. I don't want to be a hypocrite,” Benavidez said of the perception of him crying over Canelo Alvarez not fighting him, yet avoiding a fight against Morrell for two years.
Benavidez was a hypocrite because he didn't want to fight Morrell and did the same thing Canelo did to him. His excuse that there were bigger money fights available to him is the same excuse Canelo used to not fight him. The reality is that Morrell was too dangerous and Benavidez didn't want to lose.
“It's not like I didn't give him (Morrell) a chance. It was that Caleb (Plant) was a bigger fight than him. 'Boo Boo' (Demetrius Andrade) fights him off. Then, getting to 175, when I came, he came right behind me. So it was perfect. He got his belt (WBA 'regular') and I got my belt (WBC interim light heavyweight). That's why I say now is the perfect time for this fight to happen,” said Benavidez.
Benavidez doesn't say he's taken other, less risky fights than those instead of facing Morrell. Benavidez has been called up by Cuban talent for over two years, and he's been getting lighter fights, fighting these guys:
– David Lemieux
– Kyron Davis
– Ronald Ellis