David Morrell dismisses any chance of WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez knocking him out in their fight on February 1st.
(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) says Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) doesn’t possess the power at 175 to do anything to him in their match, and it’s going to be that gets knocked out in their 12-round main event fight on PBC on Prime Video PPV. Morrell has a huge power, speed, movement, skills, and youth advantage.
Although Benavidez is only a year older at 27, he looks in his early 30s. That could be due to all the hard sparring he’s had over the years with fighters like Gennadiy Golovkin. Getting hit by someone like that will age anyone.
Volume Punching Will be Risky For Benavidez
Benavidez was never a big puncher when he fought at 168, and the vast majority of his knockouts were from an accumulation of shots against much smaller, lesser opposition. Hence, the ‘weight bully’ label that Benavidez was given by some hardcore boxing fans, who noted that he was gigantic for the super middleweight division after he’d rehydrated.
If Benavidez is going to try and overwhelm Morrell with volume, it’s going to put him at risk of being knocked out because he’s seen as the biggest puncher in the 175-lb division. Morrell has arguably better power than Artur Beterbiev, and he’ll hurt Benavidez if he attempts to throw a lot of shots. That style only worked at 168, but it’s unsuitable for the 175-lb division. If Benavidez keeps fighting like that, he could eat his foot through a straw for the rest of his days.
Benavidez’s first fight at 175 was on June 15th, last summer, against former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk. He didn’t show any power and was weak in comparison to his opponent.
That fight was a near nightmare for Benavidez, as he received a massive amount of punishment and was lucky that the match was staged in Nevada because it appeared to be a draw. The judges gave Benavidez the win, but he didn’t look like he won.
Benavidez’s lack of power showed that he’d have to depend 100% on volume punching at 175 lbs. to win fights, not on his size and definitely not on his punching power.
Morrell: Benavidez is Nervous
David Benavidez: “You were talking all that s***. I’m going to break your jaw. Man, you are a stupid s***. Why are you getting excited? Now, he’s going to go on Instagram. Look at this guy. He’s nervous, man,” said Benavidez during Tuesday’s kickoff press conference.
David Morrell: “You don’t have power at 175. Have the power to break my mouth? Hell, no. Hell, no. You don’t have power. Shut the f*** up, what do you mean?”
Morrell is right about Benavidez not having the power to break his jaw, but he’s still going by the same mindset that he had when he was fighting at 168. When Benavidez fought in that weight class, he was so much bigger than his opponents he could use his size to overwhelm them. Things are different at 175. He’s just one of the regular contenders. His WBC interim is a trinket title and means nothing. It certainly doesn’t translate into Benavidez being on the level of the top fighters.
“It’s simple. He’s nervous. What does a cat do when it’s threatened? It takes out his claws, and that’s what he did. He feels threatened. He’s intimidated,” said Morrell to the media about Benavidez making threats during their press conference today.
“I have everything for David Benavidez. I have the move, the dance. I’m fast and have power. A lot of people who fight Benavidez have three or two or one. I have everything to [beat] Benavidez. I got everything. I got the legs. I can do it,” said Morrell.
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