After sparring and fighting David Morrell, Radivoje Kalajdzic has advice for David Benavidez

David Morrell will face David Benavidez in his biggest challenge to date this Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The intriguing light heavyweight matchup marks the second contest at 175 for each after Morrell defeated Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic and Benavidez beat Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Both were forced to go the full 12 rounds.

Kalajdzic fought Morrell in August and gave a terrific account of himself, pushing the favorite all the way. Kalajdzic frustrated Morrell with his movement and impressed many ringsiders, so much so that he was asked to spar Morrell for his upcoming bout against Benavidez.

“After the fight, I told Morrell that I would come help him if he needed it for the Benavidez fight,” Kalajdzic told BoxingScene. “Morrell is a pretty cool dude; we talked, we exchanged numbers. He needed help, they asked me for my help and I went. The sparring was really good. I mimicked a little bit of Benavidez, I was the aggressor way more than the fight [we had] and I think I helped him a lot.

“I was a little different, more confident and more sure of myself which helped Morrell in the sparring because I was walking him down with my hands up. I was basically similar to mimicking Benavidez; I wasn’t moving and balancing the whole sparring session, I was actually bringing the pressure to him.”

Kalajdzic, however, is struggling to pick a winner between the two unbeaten light heavyweights.

“I got it a 50-50 fight, even though I was in Morrell’s camp,” he said. “He looked great. He had sparring partners that mimicked Benavidez’s style and he stayed composed. So what I say is: Whoever stays composed and follows his game plan will win this fight. 

“Morrell, if he boxes and stays composed when Benavidez comes with all his punches, and doesn’t get in a firefight, and just starts moving, boxing, I got Morrell. If he gets in a firefight, then I might go with Benavidez. So it’s whoever follows the game plan and stays composed will win this fight.”

Benavidez so often overwhelms his opponents with his high output and combination punching. With the right approach, though, Morrell will have the answers. 

“Counter shots, counter punching,” he said. “Benavidez likes to open up; Morrell will keep his guard up and then catch you as you’re punching. I’ve seen him doing that with a bunch of other sparring partners, which he did really good. He had some hard sparring and he stayed calm and composed, and that was after going six rounds already, and then with the new guys he managed to perform well under pressure, stay calm and pick the shots.”

After sharing 12 rounds with Morrell during their fight and many more in sparring, Kalajdzic identified Morrell’s strongest attributes heading into the clash with Benavidez.

“His inside work, how explosive he is on the inside,” said Kalajdzic. “When I’m trying to grab, he’s explosive with the hooks inside. His speed and power is there. He’s surprisingly fast. Like, he surprises you; very quick, very quick with it.

“I know Morrell’s reach is [78.5ins] so he has a really long reach for his weight class. I think Morrell has the footwork and the mentality where he can sit there and box and make Benavidez lunge and reach for Morrell.”

As for Hot Rod himself, does he now have any regrets about how he approached his own fight with Morrell? 

“No, it’s a learning experience,” he said. “I learned a lot from that fight and the sparring was even better, so, it’s just each fight is a learning experience. So, going into future fights, the next fight, and the next, and the fight after that, people will see a whole different Hot Rod, the more mature and better version.”