Benavidez's Anger Issues: Morel's Advantage?

David Benavidez says he'll use “everything” Cuban David Morel has said about him to “fuel” his fire when they meet on February 1st in their PBC light heavyweight headliner on Prime Video PPV on T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

WBA “regular” champion Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) just stated the obvious by saying that Benavidez has been avoiding him since 2022. and that he is “fat little chicken' not the “Mexican monster” cool boy he tries to make fans think he is. Morel sees Benavidez as a “fake” poser, and a “chicken” at that.

Loss of control?

“When I get in the ring, I try to do as much damage as possible because if I don't get you, they try to get me. So I take this very seriously,” David Benavidez told the Miami Hustle for his fight against David Morrell on February 1st.

“I feel like every fighter I go in the ring with is trying to take food off my plate and I'm not going to let that happen. David Morrell has been talking nonsense for a while now. He tries to say he doesn't. He keeps my name in his mouth.

“He thought he would never take the fight. After we accepted the fight, he tried to act like he wasn't talking nonsense and saying nothing about me. I'm using everything he said about me to fuel the fight,” Benavidez said of Morel.

It sounds like Benavidez will fight with anger and emotion against Morel and put himself in position to get caught by one of Morel's big shots. That's the problem with Benavidez. He is hot headed and has a temper problem.

That may be why he acted and shoved Morel when he refused to shake his head during their Dec. 17 media workout in Miami. He couldn't bear the humiliation of Morel rejecting his handshake attempt. So he pushed it. He's lucky Morel didn't brain him with his WBA heavyweight belt, which he threw at him in return, because he could have been cut to ribbons if he'd hit him in the head.

Fighting fiercely against a calm fighter like Morel, who has technical skills honed by years of working in the Cuban amateur team, is a mistake.

If Benavidez fights like a wild man against Morrell, he will be knocked out. This guy has one punch power and has competed with the two time Olympic medalist from Cuba Julio Cesar La Cruz and Osley Iglesias. These are fighters superior to anyone Benavidez has fought in his 12-year professional career, and perhaps better than him.

“I can't say because I haven't been in the ring with him, but on paper it looks like he has everything,” Benavidez said when asked if David Morel is his toughest opponent to date. “He's got range, he's got speed, he's got footwork and he's got power. This shit doesn't scare me.

No one on Benavidez's resume matches Morel's size, youth, technical ability or power. This is the best fighter he's ever fought, and if he loses, he'll prove it on February 1st. Gvozdyk was a good fighter years ago, but by the time Benavidez fought him, he was 37, coming off a four-year retirement and a knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev. If Benavidez had fought the same version of Gvozdyk that knocked out Adonis Stevenson, he would have lost to him.

“I've been boxing for 25 years. I like it when I see a strong fighter that I'm going to get in the ring with, because what gives me the most satisfaction is shutting the mouths of people who think I can't win, who think I'm going to get knocked out. I know what I can do and that's why I accepted this challenge,” Benavides said.

Boxing fans have doubted Benavidez's ability to beat Morel for years. They also question his ability to compete in a division natural to his massive heavyweight division, at 200 or 175.

Benavidez was already supposed to fight Morrell years ago and move up to light heavyweight to face Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. What's more, Benavidez should have already been at heavyweight against Jai Opetaia because he has had the size to compete in that weight class for years. Instead of getting any of those fights, Benavidez played it safe, melting down to 168, feasting on smaller, older fighters and not getting the fight he wanted against Canelo Alvarez.

Delayed decision

“It's a challenge that not many people are willing to take on at 168 and 175. So, the toughest challenges, I embrace them. I want to be the most dominant fighter. So I'm going to keep doing what I have to do,” Benavidez said.

It took Benavidez three years to finally accept the challenge from Cuban Morel, who has been calling him since 2022. this way. Benavidez didn't want to fight Morel, but changed his mind after a less-than-impressive fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3 in Los Angeles.

This means that Benavidez isn't as fearless as he makes himself out to be, because if he didn't have fear, he'd be fighting Morel in 2022 instead of choosing to fight these guys:

– Alexander Gvozdik
– Demetrius Andrade
– Caleb Plant
– David Lemieux