LOS ANGELES – David Benavidez and David Morrell were mouthing off at each other behind the scenes before their kickoff press conference for their February 1 fight got underway at The Novo in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Both Benavidez and Morrell stood shirtless as they shot a promo and fired unpleasantries at each other.

The heated dispute between the 175-pound interim titleholders to undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev’s crown then carried over for the public to see on camera.

“Morrell has been talking about me for a while and disrespecting me,” said Benavidez. “He wanted to make it personal with me, so I’m personally going to break his mouth. That’ll give him something to remember me by … He knows what he said and that’s exactly what I needed to get me going for this fight. He thinks he’s big and bad, but he’s nothing. I’m gonna show him who’s the best.”

Morrell fired back.

“He has no idea what he’s talking about, but he’s provoking me and now I want to go out there and beat the crap out of him,” said Morrell. “I’m getting the knockout, 100 percent. He’s all talk and no bite. He can’t do what he thinks he’s gonna do.”

Morrell said the stoppage would come in the eighth round.

Benavidez said that Morrell didn’t sound convinced or confident in his KO prediction.

Benavidez, 29-0 (24 KOs), and Morrell, 11-0 (9 KOs), will trade the verbal jabs and haymakers for real punches when they meet in a light heavyweight showdown at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Prime Video pay-per-view.

“These are the type of fighters I want to fight,” said Benavidez. “I want to face guys who think that they’re going to go in there and knock me out. He’s never fought anyone like me and I’m going to show everyone there’s levels to this.

“I want the props that I deserve when I beat the crap out of him. I love that he’s confident. I love facing guys like this.

“It’s not time to play anymore. It’s time to see who the best David is. I want to show everyone where I stand. I want to take over and show everyone I’m the most ferocious fighter out there.”

Benavidez, a former two-time super middleweight champion, was originally supposed to face Jesse Hart but he took a major leap in difficulty of opposition to take on Morrell for his second dance at 175lbs.

Benavidez and Morrell both made their light heavyweight debut to mixed results this summer.

In June, Benavidez battled through hand injuries to score a unanimous decision win against Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Benavidez landed 223 shots and ate 163 from the former titleholder from Ukraine, who won four rounds on one scorecard.

Morrell, meanwhile, allowed an opponent to see a 12-round decision for just the second time in his five-year career in August, as Radivoje Kalajdzic won three rounds on two of the judges’ cards by clipping Morrell with 102 punches and absorbing 134.

“I know it’s not going to be an easy fight, but nothing is easy in life. I promise that I’m ready to fight,” said Morrell. “Everybody says that Benavidez is the boogeyman and that no one wants to fight him, and I want to face the best. That’s why I went straight for him.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association