“Mexican Monster” David Benavidez has a tough fight against fellow unbeaten warrior David Morrell, but the 27-year-old is already looking ahead to the future. Benavidez, who says he has no doubt he will beat Morrell when they fight in what could prove to be a real FOTY contender in February, wants the winner of the expected return fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Should he manage to win all the belts at 175 pounds, Benavidez could then move up to cruiserweight. Speaking with ESNews, Benavidez said he expects Bivol to get the win over Beterbiev in the rematch unless “they rob him.” Benavidez feels Bivol won the first fight with Beterbiev but was denied the win by the judges.
“It’s going to be a throwback fight, and that’s what we all expect to see……if it’s the same as the last fight, I see Bivol winning again unless they rob him, and then there’s nothing he can do,” Benavidez said.
Interesting. Plenty of people agree with Benavidez that Bivol deserved the win in October, yet just as many people feel Beterbiev deserved his win. The rematch should prove fascinating, and Benavidez aims to be right there, waiting to face the winner.
And as for that possible move up to 200 pounds, Benavidez’s father and trainer, Jose Benavidez Senior, told Fight Hub TV that should a fight with the Beterbiev-Bivol II winner not come off, his son could move up to challenge cruiserweight champ, Gilberto Ramirez.
“Yeah, that’s what we could do right away, so that’s what we’re looking for,” Benavidez Snr said about a fight with Zurdo. “For some reason, if this fight with the winner of Beterbiev and Bivol is not happening, we’ll go to cruiserweight to fight Zurdo Ramirez, and hopefully that will happen.”
Benavidez would make a great addition to the cruiserweight ranks and a fight between him and Ramirez would almost certainly prove to be a real action fight. But fans do want to see Benavidez face the Beterbiev-Bivol victor. But first comes the Morrell fight, and Benavidez must be at his best to win in February.
“He’s a very dangerous fighter,” Benavidez Snr said of Morrell. “But I think David is on a different level. He’s super focused mentally and spiritually, and at the end of the day, we gotta go through him to go to the other fighters, like better people and maybe Ramirez.”
