Lonnie B Thompson says David Benavidez can’t defeat undisputed light heavy weight champion Artur Betterbiev, who fights as he did against David Morrell last Saturday night. He will have to come up with a better style against Betterbiev.
Benavidez (30-0, 24 Kos) earned WBC Mandatory Spot with his victory over Morrell, and he is now facing the winner of Betterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 Rematch.
Benavidez’s style
Thompson says Benavidez’s habit of standing directly in front of his opponents and firing combinations will make him strike out if he fights like against Betterbiev (21-0, 20 Kos).
Benavidez, 28, is a 12-year-old pro, and he has never shown the ability to adapt his combat style to box and move. What you see is what you get with him. Morrell felt Benavidez’s fighting style as “RoboCop” and he’s right. He will not change for the Betterbiev match.
If Benavidez is lucky, Bivol will defeat Berterbiev in their match on February 22, and he doesn’t have to worry about handling him. Bivol will be a much easier match for Benavidez because he can’t beat and will try to box.
“No,” Lonnie B told Fighthype when asked if David Benavidez can beat Artur Betterbiev. “I’m not a David Benavidez Hater. I just look at the fight from my experience of being in the ring with both.
“If he wants to give Artur a good fight, he has to get far better than that because the style he got standing in front of you, blocking, blocking, blocking, I don’t think it will serve him well fought artur with a guy who is extremely physically strong. Artur is physically an animal and beats extremely hard.
“To prove that I’m right, look at Bivol, which is an extremely good fighter. He moved and moved and moved. But if you stand there with Artur, it’s only a matter of time before you end up on earth. Believe me, I’ve tried it lots of times, ”said Lonnie B.
Benavidez is likely to try to overwhelm Betterbiev with battles, which he did against Morrell and the other 29 opponents he is facing in his career. He only knows how to fight for a way, and that is to bury his resistance with volume. He uses the same cookie-cutter game plan against Betterbiev and hopes it works. Maybe it can.
With the way the first Betterbiev-Bivol match played out, there is an excellent chance that Bivol will win their re-match on February 22. So it won’t be Benavidez who fights for Betterbiev. It will be bivol that he is facing. Of course, it’s if Betterbiev and Bivol don’t fight for a trilogy next time.
“Morrell soured Benavidez in the third round with a check hook, but Benavidez is tough. He came back with firing and obviously won, ”said Lonnie B.” But with Artur he can’t afford to be hit by this because David sometimes David [Benavidez] Becomes lazy because he wins so convincingly.
“He starts dropping his hands, jabbers, leaning forward and leaving the chin out there and his legs straight up. With Artur he can’t do it. If he wants to give Artur a good match and potentially beat him, he will have to tighten his game.
“He has to fight midrange and hold his hands up, move his head and be prepared to take some evil shots. The fact that Morrell was able to skate to the finishing clock as it sometimes looked as if Benavidez would stop him, and Benavidez did not, it shows me that he may not be the biggest puncher at this weight.
“So my concern is whether he wants to be able to hit Artur with something that makes Artur respect him?
“Yes, I think he [Benavidez] can beat Canelo. I think Canelo is too small for David Benavidez. I don’t think Canelo will be able to keep him away with that activity level. I don’t think Canelo will be able to keep Benavidez away from him, ”Lonnie said.
Benavidez could probably beat Canelo Alvarez, but he probably never gets a chance. It is one of the hypothetical matches that is a waste of time to talk about. It would be better to speculate on how Benavidez would do against the IBF Cruiserweight Champion Jai Opetaia if he moves up there one of those days.
Will Benavidez be able to go through Opetaia’s battle, and where him down with volume that he has finished with so many others? I don’t think so, but I doubt he will ever accept fighting Jai. He will emerge Opetaia in the same way that Canelo pops him.
