Benavidez is targeting a late KO win over Morel on February 1st

David Benavidez says his experience will be too much for “regular” WBA light heavyweight champion David Morrell, and expects to knock him out in the later rounds in their main event title bout on February 1.

Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) believes he had the advantage against Morell (11-0, 9 KOs) because of the superior opposition he has faced during his 11-year professional career in numerous “50-50 fights.” He doesn’t mention who during his career he fought in fights that were considered equal money, but that’s what he claims.

Morell has a slight advantage in youth, strength, technical skills and mobility over Benavidez. It is also less corrosive. Benavidez gets hit a lot because he is a big player who gets in front of his opponents and overwhelms them with shots.

He has escaped this style because he has melted down to compete at 168 against younger and older fighters. Now that Benavidez is fighting where he should have been all along, at 175 years old, he is getting hit hard, and will have to change his approach to avoid getting eliminated.

Benavidez vs. Morrell will headline PBC one day Prime Video PPV on February 1st at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“I want to prove that I’m the best in the world, and the only one there besides Bivol and Beterbiev is David Morell. That was the best fight I could have seen. It’s not the easiest fight. It’s probably the hardest alongside Beterbiev and Bivol,” David Benavidez said. Tobin.

“He had a few words at me saying I was running away from him. I had to test his temperature and tell him I was going to stay here all night. I’m not going to run away from anyone, and by the time this fight is over, he’s going to know who the better David is,” Benavidez said of Morell.

“Canelo was kind of blocking my chance at greatness. I think everyone now is concerned with protecting their owner. For me, if you want to get paid right, you have to fight the hardest fights. You have to show people what you’re made of. And that’s what “I’m doing it in this fight.”

Canelo was doing the same thing Benavidez was doing to Morel. Benavidez was not being indulged. If he was fighting the best competitor to build his fan base, Canelo would have fought him. The people Canelo fights are the people who have fans, who bring something to the table. We saw how Benavidez couldn’t sell when he fought at a PPV against Demetrius Andrade on a loaded card, and the event was poor.

“Every fight I’ve had, they’ve been tough, competitive fights where it looks like it’s 50-50. But I go out and do what I want and show why I’m the best in the world,” Benavidez said.

Benavidez’s fights have never been 50-50 matches during his 11-year career. He’s always been the favorite in his fights, and that’s the problem. So far he’s risked his fight against Morel, and he’s only doing so because he has to.

Benavidez’s best wins:

– Demetrius Andrade: 35
– Caleb plant
– Oleksandr Gvozdyk: 37
-Anthony Dirrell: 38
-Ronald Gavriel

“That’s the difference between him and me. He fought against people who weren’t really good. That’s why he finished them early,” Benavidez said of Morel. “I fought against experienced people and veterans, and I finished them late.”

Morel’s latest opponent, Radivoj Kalajdzic, is better than anyone Benavidez has fought against. Gvozdyk was a good fighter before retiring in 2019, but he was out of the game for four years before returning in 2023. This was not the prime version of Gvozdyk that Benavidez fought.

Gvozdik had beaten three second-tier fighters before facing Benavidez on May 15, going 12 rounds in a fight that appeared to be a draw. This was a poor performance by Benavidez, who was nowhere near the quality shown by Artur Beterbiev in his fight against Gvozdyk on October 18, 2019.

“My experience will be against him when he comes in and tries to score a quick knockout. I’m 100% focused. I know this fight won’t be easy, but it will probably come down to it in the later rounds,” Benavidez said of his bout against Morell.