Kalvin Henderson backs David Benavidez to defeat David Morrell on February 1

Kalvin Henderson, a former opponent of David Morrell, has tipped David Benavidez to defeat Morrell when the pair fight on February 1.

Henderson, who lost inside four rounds to Morrell in June 2022, says he anticipates a great fight between two big fighters – Benavidez and Morrell – at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Commenting on the fight, Henderson said Benavidez must be technical to beat Morrell.

“I think Benavidez is gonna beat Morrell just off of your side and even standing,” Henderson told Fight Hype TV. “It’ll be this: throw his hard punches for 12 rounds straight. So, I think hitting relentless pressure non-stop with this man is gonna make a difference in this fight.”

Arizona’s Benavidez, 28, is scheduled to fight 26-year-old Morrell of Cuba in the biggest fight of his 175-pound campaign. Benavidez, 29-0 (24 KOs), decided to move up to light heavyweight in June last year after his hopes of fighting Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez were dashed.

Alvarez, the unified WBC/WBO 168-pound champion, opted to face Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga last year despite several call outs by Benavidez. Benavidez made his 175-pound debut against Oleksandr Gvozdyk last June, decisioning the Ukrainian en route to winning the WBC interim light heavyweight title.

Meanwhile, Morrell, 11-0 (9 KOs), won a secondary WBA 175-pound title at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles after recording a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Serbian Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic last August.

“I think Morrell and Benavidez feel more comfortable at 175. I don’t think Benavidez’s power will carry over as much. Some people call him a weight bully.

“He was huge (at 168 lbs). But 175 was more of a natural weight class for him, so I think you’ll see longer fights than if it is at 168.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected]