David Benavidez has given an insight into the power of David Morrell after suffering the second knockdown of his career during their all-action showdown.
The 28-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona was dropped by Morrell in the penultimate round of their contest in Las Vegas on Saturday night, although ‘The Monster’ was able to rise to his feet and come through the remainder of the contest unscathed as he was declared the winner via unanimous decision.
It was the 30th consecutive victory of Benavidez’s career, retaining his WBC ‘Interim’ light heavyweight title in the process and moving a step closer to being given an opportunity to fight for a world title at 175lbs, which could rely on the result of Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol’s rematch for the undisputed championship later this month.
Speaking during the post-fight press conference, Benavidez revealed Morrell ‘hits harder than everybody’ he has faced in his career to date.
“He hits harder than everybody I’ve faced,
He’s a good fighter but I think just my experience alone, I’ve seen so much different styles you know I’ve seen Caleb Plant, Demetrius Andrade, [Oleksandr] Gvozdyk, Anthony Dirrell … I’m just getting better and better.”
Benavidez now looks to be in pole position for a shot at the WBC light heavyweight title, which is currently held by Beterbiev after he defeated Bivol in their first fight last October, which saw the Russian star become the first undisputed light heavyweight champion of the ‘four belt era’.
‘The Monster’ has also been linked with a showdown against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, although Benavidez has recently confirmed he will not be moving back down to 168lbs to face Canelo.
