David Benavidez says he would be open to a fight against Oleksandr Usyk but would prefer to wait “five or six years” before facing him. He believes he needs “more experience” before fighting heavyweight champion Usyk (23-0, 12 KOs). Oleksandr will not wait for Benavidez. If he lacks the confidence to fight him now, that fight won’t happen.
Unsick Wait: 5-6 years
Benavidez says he might still take the fight if it was offered to him. He admits it would be one of the toughest of his career, which is an understatement.
Usyk is very skilled and would take advantage of Benavidez’s habit of leaving himself open for counters due to his volume striking. The ‘Mexican-Ecuadorian-American Monster’ Benavidez hasn’t had to change his fighting style because he fought smaller guys while campaigning at 168 through the first ten years of his career.
In his recent debut at 175, he took a lot of hard shots against Oleksandr Gvozdyk as he tried to overwhelm him with volume, and his face looked like it had been run over by a tractor-trailer at the end of the 12- rounds the competition.
If Benavidez were to move up to heavyweight or cruiserweight to face Usyk, he couldn’t use volume against him without getting ripped apart and embarrassed. That style only works against lesser fighters or the weak.
In 39 days, Benavidez will face WBA regular champion David Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) on Feb. 22 at PPB on Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
This is a fight that is going to show what kind of shape Benavidez has in the 175-lb division. If he can’t beat Morrell, he might have to go back to 168 if he can because it’s only going to get worse for him against the other killers at 175.
“I Will Hurt David Morrell”
“Anyone watching this fight is going to have a great time watching this. I’m coming 100% ready,” David Benavidez told Fighthype when talking about his February 22nd contest against WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell in Las Vegas.
“I have been training for almost four and a half months. I will leave no stone unturned and I am very motivated for this fight. Not just to go in there to get the win, but to get the knockout. I want to go in there and I want to hurt David Morrell.
“I’m going to make him eat his every word and when I knock him out and take his belt, he’s going to know who the best in the world is,” Benavidez said.
With Morrell’s power in both hands, he has an excellent chance to knock out Benavidez in this fight if he fights the way he has. Morrell hits too hard and wants to knock Benavidez out like he did Sena Agbeko and Yamaguchi Falcão. Those guys had excellent chins in their matches with Morrell, but he mowed them down quickly.
“I don’t think I have enough experience to go against Usyk,” Benavidez said when asked if he would like to fight Oleksandr Usyk. “Never say never. Maybe in the future, but right now I’m just focused on these guys. Maybe in five or six years, but by then he’ll probably be around 40 [try 42 or 43],” Benavidez said of Usyk.
“I have enormous respect for Usyk. He is the greatest ever. If I have the opportunity to share the ring with him, I won’t say no, but it will probably be the hardest fight I’ve had in my entire life,” said Benavidez.
It sounds weak on Benavidez’s part to talk about needing more experience before fighting Usyk because he has plenty of pro experience to take this fight. In addition, he is almost ten years younger than him.
