WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez weighed in at 174.2 pounds, and WBA ‘regular’ champ David Morrell came in at 174.2 lbs on Friday at their weigh-in. The two will meet this Saturday, February 1st, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event will be shown live on Amazon Prime Video PPV. The event sells for $79.95.
Former WBA light welterweight champion Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz 138.6 lbs weighted in for his clash against Angel Fierro. For his part, Fierro weighed 139 lbs.
“If I could slap his manager, I would slap him if I didn’t get in trouble,” said David Benavidez to Fight Hub TV about wanting to slap David Morrell’s manager, Luis Decubas Sr., who has been criticizing his career-long habit of fighting older, smaller fighter.
“David Morrell has been talking a lot about me, but when he gets up here, his energy is way different. He didn’t even want to look at me in my eyes. I’m 100% confident in myself. David Morrell, you shouldn’t have talked all that s***. He bit off more than he can chew.
“He thought I was never going to accept the fight, and here we are. Watch what I’m going to do to this dude. This Saturday, I’m going to put a beating on David Morrell. I see myself systematically breaking him down. I’m going to overwhelm him with punches.
It’s a good thing Benavidez controlled his violent instincts and didn’t slap Luis DeCubas Sr. because it would have likely resulted in a stiff fine. Who knows what else would be involved in Benavidez assaulting an elderly man? It’s troubling that he would even talk about such things.
“My punches in bunches, it’s unlike anybody else in the sport. I’m the #2 most accurate puncher in the sport. I really don’t get hit that much. I don’t know why people don’t think I have defense, what I’ve noticed from my previous fights against great fighters [?].
“When I get in there, and they don’t have success as they have with other fighters, they get a certain look in their eyes. ‘Oh, s***, this guy is really good.’ I’m expecting the same thing here,” said Benavidez.
‘The Mexican Monster’ lost me when he said he’s fought some”great fighters” in the past. Who in the world is Benavidez talking about? As far as I can tell, Benavidez never got close to fighting any “great fighters.” You can’t call 36-year-old Demetrius Andrade, 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk or former Canelo knockout victim, Caleb Plant, as “great fighters.”
Morrell will be the best fighter Benavidez has faced in his career, but we do not know how good the Cuban fighter is. Morrell’s 135-2 record while on the Cuban national team is extraordinary, but he hasn’t fought anyone at the pro level to know how good he is.
This is Morrell’s step up on Saturday, and if he performs anything like he did in the amateurs, he’s going to make Benavidez look silly.
