Sergio Mora is favoring Artur Beterbiev to defeat David Benavidez if the two punchers meet up. WBC interim light heavyweight champion Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) earned his guaranteed title shot by defeating WBA ‘regular’ champ David Morrell by a 12-round decision last Saturday night in a war in Las Vegas.
Awaiting Beterbiev
Undisputed light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) still has to get past Dmitry Bivol in their rematch on February 22nd in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
That’s not a given that Artur wins that fight because Bivol came close to beating him on October 12th last year in a fight that saw Beterbiev win by a 12-round majority decision. That was an unpopular decision, and many fans felt that Bivol had done enough to rate the win.
“If Beterbiev wins this matchup [Dmitry Bivol], how do you see a matchup between Beterbiev and Benavidez? It’s two of the biggest punchers pound-for-pound in any weight class,” said Chris Mannix on his YouTube channel.
“I’m always going to favor technique over power, and I’m going to favor speed over power. But Beterbiev has technique and power. I got to favor him,” said Sergio Mora. “I got to favor momentum. I got to favor the meanness. Both of them are mean.
“That’s the thing about Benavidez. You can’t teach the chip on his shoulders. That means. That’s another thing that makes him special. There are fighters who are automatically gifted with talent and attributes. You can’t teach meanness. That’s something you picked up on the streets or how they grew up.”
Fighting with anger against Beterbiev would be a mistake for Benavidez because he would leave himself open to getting chopped down. His face got all messed up against David Morrell, but it would be worse against Beterbiev because he’s busier.
“Benavidez has that. Beterbiev has that,” said Mora. “I’ll favor Beterbiev in that fight, even as a 40-year-old. If Benavidez is the ‘Mexican Monster,’ what is a bigger monster? King Kong or a Russian Monster. That’s Beterbiev. He’s a killer.
“This is like the Lochness Monster, sasquatch, Russian beast or bear. Whatever Beterbiev is out, that’s a killer, and I would favor him over Benavidez,” said Mora.
A nickname isn’t important for Beterbiev. His name is seen as a ‘Monster’ by boxing fans who know him, and they’re going to want to see him and Benavidez square off. That’s if Beterbiev defeats Dmitry Bivol on February 22nd because he might lose. Bivol was seen today practicing his wrestling as he’s likely to do a lot of holding to keep Beterbiev from throwing when he closes the distance.
“I would like to see who is the front-foot fighter in that matchup because Benavidez comes forward,” said Mannix. “Beterbiev comes forward. Who is the front-foot fighter there? Who is going to be the aggressor and who is going to be the counter-puncher because both of these guys know pure violence coming forward. It would be such a good matchup.”
Both fighters are going to be coming forward, and we’ll see who has the better offensive skills to win. Benavidez throws a lot of punches, but he leaves himself open to counters. That’s how Morrell hurt him with a right in the fourth and dropped him in the 11th.
“It’s very realistic. If Beterbiev beats Bivol on February 22nd, there’s going to be a huge clamor for that fight,” said Mannix. “I know Benavidez said he wants to fight Beterbiev in the U.S. I would love to see that fight happen in Vegas. Whether that fight is in Las Vegas or Saudi Arabia, that fight is an enormous fight for David Benavidez. I’d love to see that happen before the end of the year,” said Mannix.
