Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis predicts a knockout for Saturday’s Prime Video PPV light heavyweight bad-blood clash between WBA ‘regular’ champion David Morrell and WBC interim champ David Benavidez at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ennis says he sees the fight as a “50-50 or 60-40” affair, but he’s giving the better-known Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs). He feels that he may try to “blitz” Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) from the get-go, using his anger to try and score a fast first-round knockout.
Benavidez’s Blitz
There’s no guesswork about it. Benavidez WILL blitz Morrell from the opening bell, just as he did the previous 29 opponents he’s faced in his 12-year pro career. Whether that one-size-fits-all approach will work for Benavidez against a talent like Morrell remains to be seen.
It’s a risky way for the ‘Mexican Monster’ to fight, going up against what is perhaps the biggest puncher of his career. I don’t think Benavidez can change. He’s stuck in his ways and is what he is.
“I think 50-50 or 60-40. It’s going to be a barnburner from the rip,” said Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to YSM Sports Media about Saturday night’s Morrell vs. Benavidez fight on PBC on Prime Video PPV.
“They don’t like each other. So, we get a war from round one to whenever it ends. I say Benavidez,” said Boots when asked who wins between ‘The Mexican Monster’ and Morrell. “Experience, but Morrell is nice. I like Morrell. He’s a great fighter, but I think you got to give the edge to Benavidez.
“It’s a possibility. It could be,” said Jaron when asked if the bad blood could cause Morrell to want to stand and trade with Benavidez. “Morrell is the boxer, but I don’t know. I guess it could favor Benavidez. It’s going to make him more angrier and more hungrier.
It’s doubtful that Morrell’s dislike of Benavidez will cause him to “stand and trade” with him, knowing that it could lead to defeat. In Morrell’s last fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd, he boxed and moved. That guy is a bigger puncher than Benavidez.
Morrell wasn’t foolish enough to stand in the pocket against Kalajdzic and take the big shots that he was throwing. If he had, he might have knocked him out, as Artur Beterbiev did, but it would have been risky. Beterbiev took some big punches from Kalajdzic in their fight in 2019.
“He could come out and try to blitz him from the rip and don’t let him breathe. So, I don’t know. No [Benavidez-Morrell won’t go the distance]. Somebody is getting stopped. Yeah, I want to see the winner face Beterbiev or Bivol. That’s going to be a great fight,” said Boots.
One Trick Pony
Benavidez will come out fast, looking to “blitz’ Morrell from the jump, but not because it’s part of his game plan. That’s how he ALWAYS fights. He’s like an actor with only one acting style, and he’s the same character no matter his role.
Benavidez is the Van Diesel of boxing. He’s always the same. He’s a one-trick pony, which will eventually lead to his defeat. If Morrell doesn’t do it, the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 winner will. Volume guys are a dime a dozen at 175, and Benavidez is even easier to hit than similar fighters at light heavyweight.
Benavidez only knows how to come forward, load up on every shot, and focus on volume punching. That style led to him getting hit with many hard punches in his first fight at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th.
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