Trainer Stephen Edwards feels that David Benavidez has the right combination of speed, power, combination punching, and durability to defeat unbeaten IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
The combination punching that Benavidez utilizes would leave him open to taking huge counters from Beterbiev, who throws these short punches that get there first.
Benavidez winds up with shots, leaving his head unprotected. He’s been able to get away with that undisciplined style due to a combination of weak opposition and having a massive size advantage over his opponents at 168.
Let’s face it: Benavidez is a cruiserweight that boils down to 168, and that gives him the ability to fight in a way that he normally couldn’t if he were facing someone his own size, like Jai Opetaia.
Benavidez Needs The Morrell Test
Before the Beterbiev-Benavidez fight happens, Edwards still wants to see Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) tested against David Morrell Jr., a big super middleweight with power, skills, and talent, to see how he holds up against him.
If the 27-year-old Benavidez beats Morrell, he’d like to see him go up to 175 and challenge Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) for his belts, which by that time could be four.
The problem is Benavidez and his dad, Jose Sr., want nothing to do with Morrell, so that’s a fight that probably won’t happen for testing purposes. In that case, Benavidez would need to move up to light heavyweight and face Beterbiev without a step-up opponent that would prepare him.
Benavidez’s Fast Hands
“I would have to see a little bit more of David [Benavidez] at 175 to see how he grows into it. I would have to see how he handles [David] Morrell, but with his style, I think he could give him a lot of trouble,” said Stephen Edwards to Fighthype about his belief that David Benavidez could give unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev problems and potentially beat him.
“I believe if you’re busy, and you’re tough, and you can back Beterbiev up, I think you can have some success with him. Callum Smith did some good things when he came forward, but it’s just the accumulation of the punishment wears you out.
“Benavidez has ultra-fast hands; he goes to the body. He’s also mean; he’s also a killer. So, he’s going to be able to match Beterbiev’s intensity and mannerisms. He’s going to be able to go there with him. So, he would have some small advantages like that,” said Stephen.
Durability Under Fire
“It would be kind of like I know that [Julio Cesar] Chavez won the fight with [Meldrick] Taylor in the last seconds knockout, but Taylor was able to win a lot of rounds from Chavez because of the hand speed advantage was so great, and he was right there in the box with him to make sure to take advantage of Chavez’s mistakes,” said Edwards.
“So, if David [Benavidez] is able to fight a similar fight and have the durability to hold on down the stretch, I think he’d have a shot because David has very, very fast hands, and he’s also a big guy. So, he may have a buffer to take that punishment,” said Edwards about Benavidez potentially being about to take the huge power shots from Beterbiev.
