David Benavidez Open To Morrell Rematch: He’ll Never Be Able To Beat Me!
David Benavidez made sure there was no debate on who won his light heavyweight showdown against David Morrell on February 1.
Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) notched a unanimous decision win by scores of 115-111, 115-111, and 118-108, brushing off a fluke knockdown to overpower Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) in a competitive clash.
“I was very happy with the fight,” Benavidez said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “I knew exactly what we were going into. David Morrell was a strong fighter. He had power in both hands. I showed exactly who I am in this fight. I received a heavy shot in round four and I still stayed in there and decided to brawl with him. That’s exactly who I am.
“Morrell is not really a consistent body puncher. That’s why I felt like my style was the perfect style for him because he’s a lefty and his liver was close to my left hand. So I just kept hitting that body all night long. I know that he wasn’t able to do anything to defend that. I threw that shot very well … I saw him hurt a lot of times in the fight. Hats off to David Morrell. He has a lot of heart as well.”
Although Benavidez was headlining his third pay-per-view event in Las Vegas – the other two came in 2023 against Caleb Plant at MGM Grand and Demetrius Andrade at Mandalay Bay – the PPV event against Morrell at the T-Mobile Arena took the cake as the most significant one.
“It definitely felt like it was the biggest fight of my career,” said Benavidez. “It felt like my arrival to the big stage. We were able to sell the fight out and the stadium was packed. We were able to do well on the promotion and the fight lived up to the hype. This is what I’m here for. I want to give fans the fights that they’ll remember for a long time. That’s what I felt like we did that night.”
The buildup of Benavidez-Morrell was a tumultuous one featuring plenty of foul-mouthed exchanges. Benavidez said the animosity helped fuel his spirit in the slugfest, as he outlanded Morrell 224 to 165. He also used his size to his advantage, as Benavidez said he walked into the ring at 196 pounds.
“The fight was definitely personal,” said Benavidez. “It was obvious too from the way that we were fighting. It’s good when the fights get personal because two men who don’t like each other are going to go to war. Morrell was known as a fighter who moved around the ring a lot and he didn’t use the ring at all. He was going back and forth with me. I kept my word and went toe to toe. I’m happy with the performance we both gave … I even tried to stay humble after the fight and gave Morrell his belt back, because that’s his memorabilia. I was trying to show sportsmanship. There is no need to keep going after the fight.”
Benavidez is now moving onto bigger and better things at 175 pounds. He’ll wait for a winner to emerge when undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol face off on February 22 in Saudi Arabia so that he can fight them next. But in the back of his mind, Benavidez realizes that Morrell could emerge as a deserving contender again.
“You have to give respect when respect is deserved. There is no bad blood anymore – unless we fight again,” said Benavidez. “There is a good opportunity in the future if he gets more wins. We are both young and we can fight again. I would love to fight him again. I showed that I was above him. He’ll never be able to beat me.”
