Benavidez-Morrell: Can the ‘Mexican Monster’ conquer his first A-Level test?

David Benavidez is counting on his professional experience to carry him to victory against undefeated David Morrell on February 1st in their 12-round fight at PBC on Prime Video PPV.

‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez predicts he will soon become the “Face of Boxing” and sees this fight as his “takeover”. He’s clearly not lacking in confidence going into the fight against Morrell.

Benavidez’s confidence

David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says he can’t wait to add Morrell’s WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight title to his collection. He currently holds the WBC interim 175 lb belt, a title that guarantees him a title fight against champion Artur Beterbiev if he defeats Morrell.

Benavidez-Morrell headline the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This is a fight that many boxing fans see as 50-50, but not Benavidez. He sees it as a sure win for himself, but that’s the way he is.

If he were to fight Beterbiev, Jai Opetaia or even Daniel Dubois, he would probably be just as confident of victory. He’s one of those guys who has a huge ego shaped by years of campaigning at 168 and has yet to fight an A-level fighter in his career.

Morrell is the closest to that type of fighter. That’s what makes it interesting: Benavidez will have to show if he’s as good as he thinks he is. I feel like he’s not because his brother, Jose Benavidez Jr., is the same way. He’s lost every time he’s faced an A-level opponent, but he’s always dead set on winning. This will be Benavidez’s first time, and he could lose.

PBC PPV Undercard Fights

Brandon Figueroa vs. Stephen Fulton
Yoenli Hernandez vs. Angelo Ruiz Astorga
Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro Barreda
Jesus Alejandro Ramos Jr. vs. Jason Rosario
Mirco Cuello vs. Christian Olivo

Experience vs. Power

“I don’t see being an amateur as any (advantage). This is not an amateur fight,” said David Benavidez to the media when asked about the experience advantage David Morrell has over him from his days as an amateur star in Cuba.

“This is a championship fight of 12 rounds. He may have a three-round advantage because of his amateur (experience), but other than that, three rounds mean nothing. I’ve been with better fighters, bigger halls and bigger fights. This is my third or fourth PPV.

“So I have experience on my side. I don’t think he’s ever been in anything like it, and I’m going to show why I’m on another level. He knew he bit off more than he could chew,” Benavidez said of Morrell.

Amateur experience is important when a fighter has the success Morrell had in Cuba. As an amateur, he was 130-2, and that could affect this fight if he can handle Benavidez’s pressure. Morrell can’t move for 12 rounds.

He will have to stand his ground and fight Benavidez to win because if he tries to move like he did in his debut at 175 on August 3rd against Radivoj Kalajdzic, he will lose a decision. Benavidez will have the upper hand in punching power, but Morrell can take that away from him by knocking him out. He will have to do that.

Benavidez has a thick skull and seems to shoot like they’re nothing. He has a forehead like in a drive-in movie theater. The punches that Oleksandr Gvozdyk threw at him with full force had no effect, and were stronger than the ones he connected with. He took them. But Morrell hits harder and won’t tire himself with movement like Gvozdyk. The 37-year-old looked tired and old in that fight with Benavidez last June.

“I know what I can do. Every high-caliber fighter says the same thing, but when they get in the ring with me, they say, ‘David Benavidez is on another level.’ I’m really motivated. I’m excited to go out there and get that WBA belt. I don’t have one. So I’m very excited to get one of those in my collection,” said Benavidez.

The ‘Mexican Monster’ has yet to fight a “high caliber fighter” during his career. I don’t even know that Morrell is a “high caliber” fighter, but he fights at a higher level than the best guys that Benavidez has fought.

Morrell’s power advantage and technical skills make him a threat, especially with the way Benavidez focuses on charging everything he throws. He is reckless with the way he fights and will end up getting knocked out fighting like that. Will Morrell be the one to do it? We don’t know, but I wouldn’t be shocked.

So it is not clear who it is. His best wins came against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk, 36-year-old Demetrius Andrade and Caleb Plant. These are NOT “high caliber” hunters.

Andrade was a good fighter years ago at 154, but he was too old and small to fight Benavidez in the light heavyweight division at 168. David looked huge as he rehydrated for Andrade and didn’t look like a super middleweight. There was no way Demetrius could beat Benavidez with him that much bigger. All things being equal and Andrade being young and the fight taking place at 154 in 2012, he would have a chance, but not at 168 against the much younger Benavidez in the light heavyweight division.

Gvozdyk was retired for four years after being knocked out by Artur Beterbiev in 2019. He came back and won several tomato cans before being picked up by Benanvidez’s management. This was not the best version of Oleksandr who lost to Beterbiev and knocked out Adonis Stevenson.

The face of boxing?

“This is my download. Watching the fighters in Vegas makes me feel like I could take this on. I really have fun and have great fights. I want this for myself. I want to show people that I’m the best. When I go in there, everyone can see the level now. I’m just excited to make my dreams come true and become the face of boxing,” said Benavidez.

It will be difficult for Benavidez to become the ‘Face of Boxing’ without a win over Morrell or the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivolo 2 rematch. With the way Benavidez loads up on every punch, putting everything into it, he’ll be in trouble against Morrell or Beterbiev if he makes it that far .

The way Benavidez fought Oleksandr Gvozdyk last June will seriously injure him. Fortunately for him, Gvozdyk mostly pushed his punches and didn’t give them maximum power. When he started to land his punches in the second half, he was lighting up Benavidez with head shots.

In the last 30 seconds of the 12th, he hurt Benavidez with a right hand to the body. Morrell is much faster, younger and more powerful than Gvozdyk. It will hurt Benavidez. I don’t think the ‘Mexican monster’ can change because that’s how he’s always fought, and he’s not capable of trying to box. When he’s out there, he loads up on wild hooks, and that will be a problem against Morrell. He’s going to go up against him and we could see Morrell get a one-punch knockout victory.