David Benavidez is already planning his strategy to defeat the winner of the rematch scheduled for February 22 between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
“The Mexican Monster” Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) says he will use a different game plan for each of them and will beat Beterbiev (21-0, 21 KOs) and put pressure on Bivol.
Morel then glory
It's still too early for Benavidez to think about facing the winner of that fight because he still has to defeat WBA light heavyweight champion David Morrell on February 1. This is a 50-50 fight in most people's minds, but not Benavidez.
He is very confident that he will have no problems beating Morel, so he finally agreed to the fight after watching the Cuban's action against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd.
Few people give Benavidez any chance of beating Bivol or Beterbiev, but it's no surprise that he believes he can beat them. That's his personality. Like many carefully matched fighters, Benavidez believes he can beat anyone, which may be his undoing when he faces Morell.
The PBC matchmakers have kept Benavidez well protected, and he was fighting in a division below his frame size until his last fight. It helped him.
“My main goal is to beat David Morrell and then go up and face whoever is next,” David Benavidez said. Shawn Zettel He shifted his immediate target on February 1st. I think we were ranked No. 1 (with the WBC) right away to fight the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol. So, if that's the case, I'm 100% ready for it.
“With these big fights, I'm able to build my brand more and more. It's similar to Canelo's career. He stepped up and was beating the bigger (mentioned) fighters. If I can't win the Canelo fight, I don't really care. I'm really happy with my career and happy With the opportunities I get now, it proves that I am the best in the world regardless of weight class.
“I feel bad for people because people are missing out on a great fight,” said Benavidez, still playing Canelo’s instrument. “That's what we're here for, to give people good fights.”
Benavidez should have forgotten about Canelo years ago because he made it clear to everyone that he would never get this opportunity. If Benavidez had given up long ago, he could have moved up to light heavyweight or cruiserweight and possibly won a world title by now.
Beterbiev box, Bivol pressure
“They are iron champions in their weight class,” Benavidez said of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. “Beterbiev is the tough one, the next one. He's like a tank trying to knock you down, but there's room for him to get the better of you. Honestly, I thought Bivol beat him. I thought Bivol beat him and I thought Bivol beat him convincingly. That's how you beat this fighter.” .
Benavidez is not a professional judge, so his opinion on whether Bivol deserves to beat Beterbiev in their showdown on October 12 is meaningless. However, he said before their fight that he thought Bivol would win, so he already had a bias. Beterbiev won under pressure, and the judges have already made their decision.
Bivol is the best boxer in the 175-pound division, but he failed to beat Beterbiev. If Bivol can't do it, a volume puncher like Benavidez can't either. He's not a great boxer, and he's not going to be able to change the way he fights after 11 years in the pro game. Benavidez is the finished product. If he fights Beterbiev, he will use the same high-performance approach he always does, and that will be a disaster for him. It would be another Callum Smith but without the power.
“With Bivol, you have to pressure him more and throw more combinations,” Benavidez said. “You can't just throw left hooks and right hooks. You have to be really smart with your combinations. So, you have to fight a couple of different ways, but whoever we fight, we have to be 100% ready. I'll definitely be ready, and it's going to be an amazing fight with those two guys.” .
Benavidez has sparred with Bivol before, and was rumored to have gotten the better of him. However, if that were true, it would be a sparring, not a fight. Bivol would be a problem for Benavidez in a real fight, as he wouldn't be training as much as he was during sparring sessions.
Why Muriel now?
“That's why I took this fight (David Morrell) no problem because when I was waiting for it (for the Beterbiev vs. Bivol winner's fight), I thought because I was the No. 1 contender (with the WBC), because that fight ended the fight.” “In a way, you have to give her the respect she deserves in the rematch,” Benavidez said.
It wasn't until David Morrell looked less impressive in his last fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3 that Benavidez wanted to fight him. Before that fight, Benavidez and his father, Jose Benavidez Sr., wanted nothing to do with Morel. They probably saw his weaknesses and decided: “I think he's perfect.”
“So, they were giving me some other names, and I was like, ‘Man, I’m not interested in any of those fights.’ “I want the big fights, and if we can’t get anyone big, we’ll get a big fight from someone with a belt who talks a lot of crap.” , Benavidez said about why he chose to fight Morell.
The timing of Benavidez's decision to fight Muriel is suspicious. This comes directly after his first mediocre performance in his five-year career. Benavidez didn't raise his hand to fight Morell when he was destroying Senna Agbeko or Yamaguchi Falcao.
“So, that's the path we took. This is a fight that people have wanted to see for a long time. So, I feel like this is the best time to bring up the fight between me and Morel. Just in my mindset I'm ready to fight with the best. I don't care who it is. I don't care who it is,” Benavidez said. “100% ready to fight whatever it is, no.”
