David Benavidez believes David Morrell was trying to hurt him out of the fight when he threw the WBA light heavyweight belt at him after shoving him during their December 17 confrontation in Miami. Benavidez appears panicked about the injury scenario he has crafted.
Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) became angry when Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) refused to shake his hand. So, to deal with his embarrassment and anger, he showed Morell, who retaliated by throwing the WBA belt at him. The belt barely missed nailing Benavidez in the head. He interpreted Morell's move as trying to get out of the fight by injuring him.
You can look at it another way. It was Benavidez who tried to get out of the fight by pushing Morell, hoping to punch him in the face in retaliation. It was Benavidez who started the push. What did he expect Morel to do?
Was Morel afraid?
“I really want to beat Muriel, and that's exactly what I intend to do,” David Benavidez said. Fighthypeis still complaining about David Morrell not wanting to shake his hand during the media rehearsal.
“For me, I already know that he's 100 percent afraid of me because he's already looking for ways to get out. Who throws belts at someone's face? 'That's a heavy belt, bro,'” Benavidez said of Morell throwing his WBA title belt at him during their post-match confrontation. That he was pushed forcefully without warning.
“For me, when I throw that belt at your face, I know in my mind that I'm going to hit you, and the fight is going to be canceled because you're going to get cut. That's exactly what he did. He also targeted my head. He didn't try to miss,” Benavidez said.
There would have been no problem if Benavidez had controlled his violent instincts when Morell did not want to shake his hand. Does he live his life pushing everyone when they don't want to shake hands?
“From the first press conference when we had the confrontation, I felt fear in him,” Benavidez said of Morell. “I've been doing this for a long time, and it's the same with this. I said, 'Be careful what you ask for because I might be there to give it to you.'
“And that makes for a better fight. I did all that. I pushed him. I did the press conference, and now a lot of people are interested in this fight. They should be because this is going to be a good fight. David Morrell is a good fighter. I'm a great fighter.”
Will Morel participate?
“We're going to go to war, and if he's really committed to what he says, he's going to stand there and face me face to face. I don't think he's going to do that. I'm 100 percent ready to go out there and do it. I'm going to hurt this guy as much as I can,” Benavidez said.
It may not be to Benavidez's advantage to go up against a big player like Morell because he hits harder and will take advantage of all the shots he tends to throw.
Benavidez's volume of punches has netted him 168 against younger, older and weaker fighters he has faced. But at 175 years old, he will have to reinvent himself if he doesn't want his career to collapse, starting with the Morel fight.
