Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. made it clear yesterday that ‘The Mexican Monster’ David Benavidez won’t be fighting the talented WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell anytime soon because he wants the match-up to marinate for another two or three years before it happens.
Although Jose Sr. claims that Morrell’s management doesn’t want to let him fight Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) now, the belief by fans is that he’s the one blocking the fight from happening, as he’s been dragging his feet over the idea of letting his son face the talented former Cuban amateur star since earlier this year.
It’s possible that after watching what Morrell did to his last two opponents, Benavidez Sr. has gotten cold feet about the idea of letting his son, David, mix it with him and having it turn out badly.
Unfortunately, what this means is that if Benavidez wins his fight on Saturday night against Demetrius Andrade and he fails to get the fight that they’re hoping to against Canelo Alvarez in 2024, the options at 168 are mighty slim.
With a fight against the dangerous Morrell off the table, the only interesting potential opponent for Benavidez would be Jermall Charlo next year, but that’s questionable whether they’ll be the ones that get him.
If Jermall destroys his sacrificial lamb, Jose Benavidez Jr., this Saturday night on November 25th, it’s very likely that Canelo Alvarez will choose to face him next. Consider it: Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermall Charlo in a ‘Revenge of the Brother’ match-up would be huge for Cinco de Mayo next May.
Jermall is on another level than his twin brother Jermell in terms of power, courage, and a willingness to get in the trenches and fight tooth & nail. Canelo will have a real fight on his hands against Jermall next May.
As for Benavidez, he needs to get off his hindlegs and tell his reluctant dad to allow him to fight Morrell because he won’t have any other options at 168 with Jermall fighting Canelo.
If Jose Sr. doesn’t believe Benavidez can beat Morrell, then he needs to move him up to 175 and go after Dmitry Bivol since he’s been bragging about having gotten the better of him in sparring years ago.
Benavidez poised to move to 175
“I get to have my two sons fighting on the same card on the last show on Showtime PPV. David Benavidez main event, and Jose Benavidez Jr. in the co-main event,” said Jose Sr. to Fight Hub TV.
“Benavidez Jr. is fighting a very dangerous fighter, Jermall Charlo. David Benavidez is fighting an Olympian and a two-division former world champion. It’s somebody that has been avoided by everybody,” said Jose Sr.
You’ve got to feel a little sorry for Jose Benavidez Jr. because he’s the equivalent of a Hors d’oeuvres for Jermall Charlo to feast on this Saturday. This is probably going to end badly for Jose Jr, but hopefully, he makes it interesting before Jermall steamrolls him.
“We’re not going to sit down here and wait for Canelo. Everybody is talking about Canelo. I’m tired,” said Benavidez Sr.
“We’ve been mandatory for two years, but we’re not going to sit here and wait for him. We’re going to fight whoever is there that wants to fight David. If nothing happens at 168, we’re ready to go to 175 to fight Bivol or Beterbiev.”
Instead of Jose Sr. talking about Benavidez fighting the likes of Artur Beterbiev & Dmitry Bivol, he should have already been making those match-ups happen. If Jose Sr. wonders why Canelo isn’t interested in fighting Benavidez, it’s only obvious.
The so-called ‘Mexican Monster’ isn’t taking risks with his career and going up to 175 like he’s done twice, even though Benavidez has the size of a cruiserweight.
When a fighter has the size of Benavidez and he’s not even attempting to mix it with guys his size at 175 or 200, what does that tell you? Why would Canelo want to fight someone that is unwilling to take risks with their career?
“We have to see what the options are. He [Benavidez] can definitely fight at 168,” said Jose Sr. “It’s not a problem. We can fight at 175 if there’s an opportunity. If Bivol is watching right now and if he wants to fight David, that’s a fight that we want to make.
“The reason we want to make that fight is because he beat Canelo. He beat Zurdo Ramirez, and that would be the third Mexican that he faced,” Benavidez Sr. continued about Bivol. “He’s looking for those fights, he wants those fights too, and he’s a great fighter. That’s just an option.”
Benavidez vs. Morrell fight can happen in 2 or 3 years
“I don’t know who else is there at 168. We would love to fight anybody,” said Jose Sr. “Morrell is always talking. Hopefully, [Benavidez] junior can stop him [Jermall Charlo], and we don’t have to talk about him anymore.”
After Saturday, Jose Benavidez Jr’s career will likely be in the dustbin of history. Getting obliterated by Jermall will pretty much end things for Benavidez Jr., and it’ll be need to impossible for him to come back from this loss unless he plans on returning to 140 to have a huge size advantage over those fighters the way that his brother, David is doing at 168.
“David Morrell is talking a lot. The thing is, I believe he wants to fight David [Benavidez], but his team isn’t ready for us,” said Jose Sr. “The ones that make those decisions are the managers to see if he’s ready. Believe me, if Morrell was ready to go, we would fight him next.
“I’ve been trying, but two times, I’ve been denied to fight him [David Morrell], and he gets mad and doesn’t know, but it’s the team that is the one that doesn’t want to let him fight,” said Benavidez Sr.
It’s hard to take seriously what Jose Sr. says about him having attempted “two times” to make the fight with Morrell and Benavidez. He’s been openly talking since earlier this year that he didn’t want to make the fight with Morrell, and it’s obvious that he doesn’t want to put Benavidez in with him because of what could happen.
“[Trainer] Ronnie Shields said that he [Morrell] wasn’t ready for David [Benavidez],” said Jose Sr. “His management said that he’s not ready for David. He’s [Morrell] mad at me. I don’t manage him. We want to fight him, believe me. He’s a great fighter.
“He’s Going to be a very dangerous fighter in two or three years. He’s going to get a lot of experience. He’s only had ten fights, and he hasn’t fought the same opposition that David [Benavidez] has fought. I believe David will stop him.
“In the future, he will get really good, and that’ll be a big, big fight with all the experience that he’s going to get because he’s learning and getting better and better.
“For sure, we’re watching them very closely. Those are the fights. Like I said, we’re not going to sit and wait for Canelo Alvarez. We’re going to make our own path and own history. We’re ready to fight whoever,” said Jose Sr. when asked if he’d be interested in matching Benavidez against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Bivol fight at 175.
“Right now, we’re only focused on ‘Boo Boo’ on November 25th, and that’s all we’re focused on right now. We’ve got to look impressive to go to the next level, and after that, we’ll see what’s happening,” said Jose Sr.
