‘Be better next time’: Morrell reacts to his loss against Benavidez

David Morrell says even despite his loss to David Benavidez, he knows he can beat him and will look to do so in the future.

Following his loss to David Benavidez on Saturday night, David Morrell appeared at the post-fight press conference to share his thoughts on the fight, what he could’ve done better, and being certain that he has what it takes to beat Benavidez if they ever fight again. Check out some excerpts of what Morrell had to say about the loss below.

Morrell on his reaction to the fight

“We prepared well. It didn’t go like we wanted, like we expected, but we always knew that only one David was going to prevail,” Morrell said through a translator. “The only thing that’s left is to learn from it, move on, and be better next time.”

On picking up the pace too late in the fight

“It was one of my mistakes where maybe I got going a little too late. I was getting going in the last three rounds, maybe I should have done that earlier but it’s something to learn from and something that happened in that fight that was a factor.”

On Benavidez’s professional experience playing a role in how the fight went

“It was definitely one of the main factors in this fight where it didn’t tilt the balance 100% but it definitely was something that did play a role in the outcome of the fight.”

On dropping Benavidez in the 11th and if he might’ve had the chance to stop him with more time in the round

“Well the 11th round was certainly thrilling and unfortunately there’s only so much time. The 11th round last three minutes, not three and a half minutes, so it was something that I unfortunately wasn’t able to wrap up during that round.”

On what he learned from the fight against Benavidez

“I can (beat) him. I know I can (beat) him. Maybe not this night but next time 100% (beat) him.”

On whether Benavidez is as good as advertised or if it was his own mistakes that cost him

“A little of both. I definitely made a lot of mistakes that left me exposed to get hit more than I wanted.”

On if he would prefer to take a few years to gain more experience before seeking a rematch with Benavidez

“As far as the rematch, I’m not going to wait like three years. That would be a long time...I felt that I should of looked (to target) the body more but in that sense he was heavier than normal and it wasn’t like he was hitting me that hard either. I wasn’t feeling his punches a lot more than he was feeling mine.”