Benavidez aims for a late knockout win against Morrell on February 1

David Benavidez says his experience will be too much for WBA light heavyweight champion David Morrell, and he expects to KO him in the later rounds in their headliner on February 1st.

Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) believes he has the edge against Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) thanks to the superior opponents he has faced during his 11-year professional career in many “50-50 fights.” He doesn’t mention who he fought during his career in bouts considered evenly matched, but that’s what he states.

Morrell has a slight advantage in youth, power, technical ability and mobility over Benavidez. It also has less signs of wear. Benavidez gets hit a lot because he is a volume puncher who gets in front of his opponents and overwhelms them with shots.

He got away with that style because he loosened up to compete at 168 against smaller, older fighters. Now that Benavidez is fighting where he should have been all along, at 175, he’s taking a hit and will have to change his style to avoid being knocked out.

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

“I want to prove that I am the best in the world and the only one there besides Bivol and Beterbiev is David Morrell. It was the best fight I could see. It’s not the easiest fight. He’s probably the toughest besides Beterbiev and Bivol,” David Benavidez told Tobin.

“He had a couple of words for me, saying I was running away from him. I had to test his temperature and let him know I’ll be here all night. I’m not going to run from anyone, and when this fight is over, he’ll know who the better David is,” Benavidez said about Morrell.

“Canelo was blocking my chance at greatness. I think now everyone wants to protect their O. To me, if you want to get the right money, you have to go through the toughest fights. You have to show people what you’re made of. That’s what I’m doing with this fight.

Canelo was doing the same thing Benavidez had done to Morrell. He wasn’t pandering to Benavidez. If he fought top opponents to build his fan base, Canelo would fight him. The guys Canelo fights are the ones with the fans, who bring something to the table. We saw how Benavidez failed to sell when he fought on PPV against Demetrius Andrade on a loaded card, and the event drew poor numbers.

“Every fight I’ve had, they’ve been tough, competitive fights where it feels like it’s 50-50. But I come in and do my thing and show why I’m the best in the world,” Benavidez said.

Benavidez’s fights have NOT been 50-50 throughout his 11 year career. He’s always been the favorite in his fights, and that’s the problem. He’s taken risks so far with his fight against Morrell, and he’s only taking them because it’s pretty much necessary.

Benavidez’s best wins:

– Demetrio Andrade: 35
– Plant Caleb
– Oleksandr Gvozdyk: 37
– Anthony Dirrell: 38
– Ronald Gavril

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

Morrell’s recent opponent, Radivoje Kalajdzic, is better than anyone Benavidez has fought. Gvozdyk was a good fighter before retiring in 2019, but was out of action for four years before returning to prominence in 2023. This wasn’t the primary version of Gvozdyk that Benavidez fought.

Gvozdyk had beaten three second-tier fighters before facing Benavidez on May 15 and went the distance with him 12 rounds in a fight that looked to be a draw. It was a disappointing performance from Benavidez, who looked nowhere near the level of Artur Beterbiev in his fight against Gvozdyk on October 18, 2019.

“It will be my experience against him coming in and trying to score a quick knockout. I am 100% focused. I know this fight won’t be easy, but it will probably end in the last few rounds,” Benavidez said about his match against Morrell.