David Benavidez says he would prefer to fight Dmitry Bivol rather than Artur Beterbiev next if he had the choice. Benavidez wants to fight Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) because he’s sparred with him a lot and feels that he really won his previous fight against Artur Beterbiev.
Fans would see this as a pure 100% signal that ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez wants nothing to do with Beterbiev after the shellacking he took last weekend against David Morrell. He can’t afford to continue to take that kind of punishment if he doesn’t want his career to end in the next two or three fights.
Benavidez says that beating Bivol will prove to fans that he’s “better than Canelo,” which is not true. Fighting Bivol gives Benavidez a much better chance of winning than facing Artur Beterbiev, who would be a nightmare for him.
Obviously, the judges saw it differently, giving Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) the victory due to Bivol choosing to run the last seven rounds after being clipped and hurt at the midpoint by a powerful right hand from Artur.
Benavidez’s Strategy
It’s not surprising to anyone that Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) prefers not to fight the dangerous puncher Beterbiev because he’s got huge power and is an excellent inside fighter.
The way that Benavidez fights would be ideal for Beterbiev, as he would take advantage of his volume punching. Moreover, the punishment that Benavidez took in his last fight against David Morrell last Saturday night may have taken a lot out of him physically. He was numerous times by the Cuban and had nothing left in the last three rounds.
Benavidez was just throwing arm punches and eating huge shots to the head that left his face unrecognizable. He looked like he’d been run over by a truck. In comparison, Morrell appeared unmarked, further indicating that Benavidez lacks power at 175.
He was good when he fought at 168 against older, smaller fighters, but at light heavyweight, there’s no power in his shots. His last two fights have seen him take more punishment than all of his other 28 matches combined.
“I would pick Bivol because he beat Canelo. So basically, when I beat Bivol, that would make my case that I’m better than Canelo,” said David Benavidez to Ariel Helwani’s channel about preferring to fight Dmitry Bivol than Artur Beterbiev because it would help him prove that he’s better than Canelo Alvarez to impressionable ultra-hardcore boxing fans that follow the sport closely.
“I know Dmitry Bivol really well. I sparred him, and he’s a great fighter, and we had a lot of great sparing sessions. So, I would like to fight Bivol,” Benavidez continued. “If Bivol wins this fight [Beterbiev], they’ll have to do a rubber match. Who am I to say they can’t fight another fight. They fought two great fights. If that were to happen, I wouldn’t fight until they’re done with, and then I would move into that fight after they have a trilogy.
“My dad talked to him on the phone [Turki Al-Sheikh]. We’ll go over there [Riyadh] on February 22nd, and we’ll probably figure everything out if Bivol wins again [correction: Beterbiev beat Bivol on October 12th last year] or if Bivol wins. It’s probably too much of a long time.”
It’s pretty obvious why Benavidez wants Bivol to win rather than Beterbiev because he’s does not match up well against Artur. He knows that, obviously, and prefers the finesse fighter Bivol, who has no power and is a runner.
“I think I proved to everyone what level I’m on. Me against anybody, I’ll bet the house against me against anybody,” said a badly marked up, sunglass-wearing Benavidez.
