LAS VEGAS – David Benavidez charged right at the most imposing challenger he could find, and after disposing of David Morrell by unanimous decision Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, those who remain in his path now understand the full reality of what awaits.
A destructive puncher. An imposing force willing to sample his opponent’s power in exchange for delivering thunderous blows. A 30-0 fighter at 28 years old looking to stand as the best fighter of his generation.
“I’m excited to keep putting on great fights, filling arenas, calling out the best guys,” Benavidez said in his post-fight news conference. “I’ve evolved as a fighter. I’m becoming my own character.
“I’ll be the face of boxing soon, talking over the sport.”
Phoenix’s Benavidez convincingly defeated Morrell, 11-1 (9 KOs), by scores of 115-111, 115-111, 118-108. He out-landed Morrell in total punches, 224-165, while emphasizing his triumph by landing 74 body punches to Morrell’s 35.
In the end, Morrell, 27, and his handlers conceded the Cuban fighter with more than 100 amateur bouts lacked the professional experience to keep up with the former super-middleweight champion known as “The Mexican Monster.”
Benavidez now has a ringside invitation awaiting him in Saudi Arabia to watch the undisputed light-heavyweight championship defense by Russia’s veteran fighter Artur Beterbiev against former WBA champion Dmitry Bivol on February 22.
As the unified WBC interim and WBA secondary light-heavyweight champion, Benavidez has the right to force the Beterbiev-Bivol winner to fight him next.
Instead of making it another Riyadh Season show, however, Benavidez told BoxingScene he’d prefer to bring the fight to Las Vegas.
“I feel like it’d sell more here,” Benavidez said. “They ask would I fight over there for [Saudi Arabia power broker] Turki [Alalshikh]. I’m a Las Vegas fighter and would rather fight here. I want to take advantage of this market here. It’s always been my dream to do what we did tonight.
“That fight would be even bigger here.”
Elevating to this position of demanding such terms comes on the heels of his third consecutive pay-per-view bout in America as Benavidez is ascending to rarefied air among the world’s most popular boxers and says he belongs anywhere from No. 9 to No. 6 in the pound-for-pound rankings.
After being repeatedly avoided by former undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, Benavidez has moved to turn the tables and make himself the pursuer of the most formidable opponents.
Although Alvarez's trainer-manager Eddy Reynoso was in the arena Saturday night, Benavidez said “you guys know better than me” whether Alvarez will ever fight him.
“Canelo’s on to other things. He says I talk too mean,” Benavidez said.
By taking on Morrell, he met an accomplished, powerful left-hander who made Saturday’s event a compelling battle.
The pair went right at it in the early rounds, and Morrell showed his ability by snapping a left hand to the face and performing as an unwavering adversary.
Their toe-to-toe exchanges led to rugged combinations that Benavidez got the better of by both landing the fiercer blows and producing the more diverse attack that featured penetrating uppercuts and dedicated attacks to Morrell’s midsection.
“Did you see how I landed those uppercuts?” Benavidez asked reporters. “Punched his left hand out of the way to land the uppercuts.”
That led to Morrell slowing as Benavidez added rounds by employing his jab and then taking it a step farther by backing to the ropes to feel Morrell’s best shots.
“I should’ve looked for the body more, but he was heavier,” Morrell said. “We prepared well. It didn’t go like what we expected. The only thing to do is learn from it and move on.”
Knowing what Morrell’s best shots felt like freed Benavidez to unleash a consistent attack from the middle rounds on, widening his lead.
“I know how to work a 12-round fight. He hit harder than anyone I faced, but I hit harder. I showed what level I’m on,” Benavidez said.
Morrell showcased his class by producing an effective 11th round, landing repeated blows on Benavidez.
As Benavidez moved to his right, Morrell hit him in the head. Benavidez said he stumbled, but referee Thomas Taylor ruled it a knockdown.
Morrell sabotaged the moment by hitting Benavidez with a head-jarring punch to the face after the bell, forcing Taylor to deduct a point from Morrell.
“[Morrell] was going to come for the kill in the 12th round. Losing that point hurt a lot,” Morrell manager Luis DeCubas Sr. said. “[Taylor] took away the momentum from Morrell. [Benavidez] was the one getting him tired. He never hurt him, I can tell you that.”
Morrell said he “wouldn’t want to wait three years” for a rematch, but it won’t be next.
This was Benavidez’s night, and his comfort was such in the waning rounds that he displayed an Ali shuffle.
“I was bigger and stronger and a better dancer. I took control of the fight immediately. I can attack every corner of the body.
“This is ‘Monster’s world.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.