Lonnie B Thompson says David Benavidez cannot defeat undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev fighting like he did against David Morrell last Saturday night. He’s going to have to come up with a better style against Beterbiev.
Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) earned the WBC mandatory spot with his win over Morrell, and he’ll now face the winner of the Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch.
Benavidez’s Style
Thompson says Benavidez’s habit of standing directly in front of his opponents and firing combinations will get him knocked out if he fights like against Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs).
Benavidez, 28, is a 12-year pro, and he’s never shown the ability to adapt his fighting style to box and move. What you see is what you get with him. Morrell labeled Benavidez’s fighting style as “Robocop,” and he’s right. He’s not going to change for the Beterbiev fight.
If Benavidez is lucky, Bivol will defeat Beterbiev in their fight on February 22nd, and he won’t have to worry about dealing with him. Bivol will be a much easier fight for Benavidez because he can’t punch and will be trying to box.
“No,” said Lonnie B to Fighthype when asked if David Benavidez can beat Artur Beterbiev. “I’m not a David Benavidez hater. I’m just looking at the fight from my experience being in the ring with both.
“If he’s going to give Artur a good fight, he’s got to come way better than that, because that style he got standing in front of you, blocking, blocking, blocking, I don’t think that’ll serve him well fighting Artur with a guy that is extremely physically strong. Artur is physically an animal and punches extremely hard.
“To prove I’m right, look at Bivol, who is an extremely good fighter. He kept moving and moving and moving. But if you stand there with Artur, it’s only a matter of time before you end up on the ground. Trust me, I’ve tried it plenty of times,” said Lonnie B.
Benavidez will likely try and overwhelm Beterbiev with punches like he did against Morrell and the other 29 opponents he’s faced in his career. He only knows how to fight one way, and that’s to bury his opposition with volume. He’ll use that same cookie-cutter game plan against Beterbiev and hope that it’ll work. It might.
With the way the first Beterbiev-Bivol fight played out, there’s an excellent chance Bivol will win their rematch on February 22nd. So, it won’t be Benavidez fighting Beterbiev. It’ll be Bivol that he faces. Of course, that’s if Beterbiev and Bivol don’t fight a trilogy next.
“Morrell buzzed Benavidez in the third round with a check hook, but Benavidez is tough. He came back firing and clearly won,” said Lonnie B. “But with Artur, he can’t afford to get hit with this, because sometimes David [Benavidez] gets lazy because he be winning so convincingly.
“He starts dropping his hands, jabbing, leaning forward, and leaving his chin out there and his legs straight up. With Artur, he can’t do that. If he wants to give Artur a good fight and potentially beat him, he’s going to have to tighten his game up.
“He’s going to have to fight midrange and keep his hands up, move his head, and be prepared to take some vicious shots. The fact that Morrell was able to skate to the finishing bell when at times it looked like Benavidez was going to stop him and Benavidez didn’t, it shows me that he may not be the biggest puncher at this weight.
“So my concern is whether he’ll be able to hit Artur with something that will make Artur respect him?
“Yes, I think he [Benavidez] can beat Canelo. I think Canelo is too small for David Benavidez. I don’t think Canelo will be able to keep him off with that level of activity. I don’t think Canelo will be able to keep Benavidez off of him,” said Lonnie.
Benavidez probably could beat Canelo Alvarez, but he’ll likely never get a chance. It’s one of those hypothetical fights that are a waste of time to talk about. It would be better to speculate how Benavidez would do against IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia if he moves up there one of these days.
Will Benavidez be able to walk through Opetaia’s punches and where him down with volume like he’s done with so many others? I don’t think so, but I doubt that he’ll ever agree to fight Jai. He’ll duck Opetaia in the same way Canelo is ducking him.
