LAS VEGAS — David Benavidez believes this is all part of the show.
“The Mexican Monster” understands Saturday night is almost as much about attracting pay-per-view buys as it is proving David Morrell Jr. isn’t on his level.
Mike Tyson, a big Benavidez fan, must’ve been proud Thursday. The former WBC super middleweight champion called Morrell “a p*ssy,” Morrell’s co-promoter Luis DeCubas “a c***sucker,” stood up to fight Morrell more than once during their final press conference at MGM Grand and later took issue with a reporter who wanted to know whether Morrell might’ve been winning the mental warfare battle because Benavidez seemed genuinely angry before, during and after their penultimate opportunity to hype up Saturday’s fascinating fight.
DeCubas definitely knew what he was doing when he questioned Benavidez’s iron chin, one of the WBC interim light heavyweight champion’s best assets throughout his ascension toward stardom.
Benavidez went down during the 12th round of his first fight against Ronald Gavril in 2017, but it was a flash knockdown. Only 20 at that time, Benavidez got up and won a split decision at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, now Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, just down the road from where Benavidez and Morrell will fight at T-Mobile Arena.
“I want to thank this guy here [Benavidez] for taking the shot, OK,” DeCubas said. “A lot of guys won’t take it anymore. He had the balls to step up, which I gotta give him credit for.”
Before DeCubas could continue, Benavidez reminded him he has “big balls.”
That’s when warfare was waged by both DeCubas and Benavidez.
“We’re going to find out,” DeCubas said. “We’re going to find that out on Saturday night. I want to find out if you’ve got a chin. That’s what I’ve got to find out, if you got a chin.”
An incredulous Benavidez replied, “What happened with Gallegos?”
Benavidez referenced Manuel Gallegos, Morrell’s primary sparring partner for much of his training camp. According to Benavidez and his team, Morrell’s spirited sparring sessions with Mexico’s Gallegos (21-2-1, 18 KOs) made camp much more difficult than usual for the talented Cuban southpaw.
DeCubas disputed Benavidez’s version of events. He saw Morrell spar at trainer Ronnie Shields’ gym in Stafford, Texas, whereas Benavidez was busy preparing for their Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view main event at his family’s gym just outside of Seattle.
“Gallegos? He beat the sh*t out of him every day,” DeCubas said. “Ask him about his eye. Listen, we don’t worry about sparring partners. Let me tell you something — all I’m going to tell you guys is if you can hold this guy’s punching power for 12 rounds, OK, I don’t know anything about boxing. This guy’s going to knock you out — I’m telling you.”
Benavidez countered by claiming DeCubas is taking more money from Morrell’s compensation package than Morrell will receive. That charge enraged DeCubas, who reminded Benavidez that he handled Roberto Duran’s career and can see fear in his eyes, the same way many opponents of “Hands of Stone” showed during the Panamanian legend’s heyday.
Morrell was much looser and calmer than Benavidez, even though he is the fighter with only 11 professional fights on his record.
Skeptics insist Morrell isn’t ready for what undoubtedly is a significant step up in opposition. Morrell maintains that Benavidez has also accepted his most dangerous assignment.
Phoenix’s Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) has more than twice as many fights on his record as Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), but Morrell feels Benavidez’s list of conquests is deceiving. Former IBF super middleweight champ Caleb Plant might represent Benavidez’s best win, but Benavidez also defeated ex-WBC champ Anthony Dirrell, former middleweight champs David Lemieux and Demetrius Andrade, and Gavril twice.
“Why did I want to fight Benavidez?,” Morrell asked. “Because I want to end all that ‘Monster’ bullsh*t that he’s talking about. Because everyone that he has faced so far has been either on the verge of retirement or having to come up or come down in weight. So, I want to end that myth, that he’s a monster.
“Everybody says that they’re afraid of him or whatever. I want to prove, I want to show that I’m not afraid of him in the least.”
Neither fighter is afraid of the other, of course. That said, both unbeaten boxers are coming off performances that weren’t reflective of their talents.
Benavidez battled through an assortment of injuries that, in hindsight, he told Uncrowned should’ve caused him to postpone his fight against former WBC light heavyweight champ Oleksandr Gvozdyk this past June.
He was expected to knock out a lesser version of Gvozdyk, who came out of retirement a couple years ago. Instead, Benavidez boxed all 12 rounds against an opponent who undisputed light heavyweight champ Artur Beterbiev tore through in October 2019 on his way to a 10th-round stoppage.
Benavidez’s pedestrian performance provided fodder for his critics, many of whom strongly support Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the Mexican icon Benavidez pursued unsuccessfully for several years. Less than two months later, Morrell wasn’t his typically impressive self when he defeated Radivoje Kalajdzic by unanimous decision in a 12-rounder on August 3 in Los Angeles.
Everybody says that they’re afraid of him. I want to prove, I want to show that I’m not afraid of him in the least.David Morrell Jr.
Morrell rated himself a “7.5” out of 10 for his performance against the Serbian-born Kalajdzic, whose previous loss came by fifth-round knockout to Beterbiev, who has since become boxing’s undisputed light heavyweight champion. The skillful, strong Morrell won comfortably on all three scorecards over Kalajdzic, but Kalajdzic’s height and capabilities made Morrell’s team bring him in as a sparring partner for the second half of his recently completed camp for the Benavidez bout.
The winner between Benavidez and Morrell will become the WBC’s mandatory challenger for whoever wins the immediate rematch on Feb. 22, in which Beterbiev will defend his IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring belts against Dmitry Bivol.
Morrell believes Benavidez finally agreed to fight him because Alvarez avoided Benavidez and Beterbiev and Bivol have been tied up with each other. With those lucrative options off the table, Morrell feels Benavidez had little choice but to turn to the only opponent against whom he could headline a pay-per-view show that had any chance to make the type of money Benavidez wants to earn.
The price point for Benavidez vs. Morrell is a potentially prohibitive $79.95.
The pay-per-view portion of the undercard is stacked — most notably with a featherweight rematch in which Brandon Figueroa will try to avenge his lone loss against Stephen Fulton Jr. The pay-per-view portion of the show also includes what figures to be an all-action Mexican slugfest that pit Mexico City’s Isaac Cruz against Tijuana’s Angel Fierro.
It is the main event, though, that has mostly captivated the imaginations of boxing’s core fan base.
Benavidez vs. Morrell is just the type of fight rising stars in Benavidez’s position commonly avoid because the risk outweighs the reward, no matter how talented an opponent with only 11 fights on his pro record might be. Morrell’s movement, IQ, power in both hands and speed could trouble Benavidez.
The 26-year-old Morrell will have his hands more than full as well. The relentless Benavidez wears out opponents mentally and physically with his persistent pressure.
Whatever transpires Saturday night, Benavidez and Morrell have proven they’re anything but afraid of facing the most imposing opposition, even when they know their fight could do bigger business at a later date.
“I fought way better fighters than him,” Benavidez said. “Everybody that I fought, they say the same thing, that I don’t have nothing, that I don’t have defense, that I don’t hit like that, this and that. But where are they all at after the fight? They all say David Benavidez is the best, and that’s exactly what David Morrell’s going to say — David Benavidez is the best.”
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