LAS VEGAS – David Benavidez couldn’t help but laugh when critics claimed he was avoiding David Morrell Jr.

Skeptics insisted that Benavidez began ignoring the emerging Morrell in a manner comparable to how undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez conveniently circumvented a showdown with “The Mexican Monster.” The difference, Benavidez proved, was that he needed to find out with absolute certainty that Alvarez, Artur Beterbiev and/or Dmitry Bivol weren’t more meaningful, profitable options for him in the foreseeable future.

Once Benavidez was convinced Alvarez, Beterbiev and/or Bivol weren’t available to him, the former WBC super middleweight champion didn’t want to waste more time during his physical prime by fighting former champions. That’s why Benavidez embraced a risky pay-per-view fight against an inexperienced yet talented contemporary who is every bit as ambitious as the popular Phoenix native.

Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), a Cuban-born boxer-puncher, are set to square off for their respective interim WBC and WBA light heavyweight titles Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena (8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT; $79.95). Most sportsbooks list the 28-year-old Benavidez as almost a 2-1 favorite over the 27-year-old Morrell.

“I feel like I had to take it,” Benavidez told The Ring of meeting Morrell. “I didn’t need anybody to motivate me, to tell me to get this fight. You know, I motivated myself because, at the end of the day, I wanna know for myself that I am the best. You know, I’m very confident with everything I’ve been doing, very confident with all the hard work I’ve been putting in.”

Alvarez appears to be headed in a different direction from facing light heavyweights like Benavidez, Morrell, Beterbiev and/or Bivol. Benavidez therefore feels a victory over Morrell should lead him to the winner of the Beterbiev-Bivol rematch February 22 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs), who beat Bivol by majority decision October 12 at Kingdom Arena, owns The Ring, IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC and WBO light heavyweight titles. The Ring rates Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) at No. 1, Benavidez at No. 2 and Morrell at No. 8 in its light heavyweight top 10.

“Like I said, I’m the best in this weight division,” Benavidez said. “I’m not scared of nobody. And this is why I’m here, to show this. I been wanting the hard fights like this for a long, long time. Just because I’ve been calling out Canelo didn’t mean I just want the payday or wanted to fight Canelo. I want a hard fight. And that’s how I am. That’s how my mentality is, so that’s why we took this fight.”