David Morrell says WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez won’t be able to fight offensively against him on February 1st because he will not let him.
(Credit: Jacob De Leon/Team Morrell)
Benavidez’s Risky Style
Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) says he will neutralize Benavidez’s offense by hitting him hard with counters, making him cautious about opening up like he normally does. If Benavidez chooses to fight in his normal, reckless manner, Morrell warns, it will be a mistake that he will live to regret.
Benavidez-Morrell will be headlining in 26 days on PBC on Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Morrell, 26, will defend his WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight title against the 28-year-old ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez.
It’s going to be interesting to see how much punishment Benavidez can soak up in this fight before he goes down. If he doesn’t change his ultra-aggressive fighting style for this fight, he’ll get knocked out for certain by Morrell because this guy is one of the biggest punchers in the 175-lb division. He’s got one-punch power, and he can KO Benavidez if he fights like a wild man like he normally does.
“This is all part of the show. I don’t know if Benavidez has tried some twisted psychological warfare on anyone else in the past. I’m sharp-minded and focused on February 1st,” said David Morrell to Sean Zittel. “I’m not going to play any mind games.
“Put your money where your mouth is. One thing is to say you’re going to do it, but the other thing is to step inside the ring to actually do it,” said Morrell, reacting to being told that Benavidez says he’s going to pressure him nonstop in every round.
“Let’s see if he’s capable of doing everything that he’s saying that he wants to do. This is going to be a completely different fight compared to his past fights. He’s not going to be able to be as offensive-minded and as aggressive as he has been because this is not going to be that type of fight,” said Morrell.
On The Inside
Benavidez knows only one fighting style: pressure his opponents on the inside. Although he’s 6’2 ” tall, he has no outside game. He’s 100% an inside fighter and one-dimensional, so he has no choice but to pressure. If the fight is conducted from a distance, Morrell will cook him.
The difference in power could sink Benavidez because he’s just a volume puncher and can’t generate any pop on his punches. That’s a product of his weak upper body. He’s not been blessed with strength like Morrell or Artur Beterbiev. On the inside, Morrell is far more powerful and capable of knocking out his opponents.
Watching what he did to Radivoje Kalajdzic in the third round of their fight last August was scary. Kalajdzic crowded Morrell, hoping to get the better of him on the inside. Morrell then unleashed a flurry of headshots, all with knockout force, and had Kalajdzic reeling.
Benavidez doesn’t possess any kind of power on the inside, and he could get in trouble when he tries to fight Morrell in close. Again, Benavidez has no choice but to fight on the inside because he can’t throw longer punches for some reason. It could be some physical problem with his body or a bad experience that he had in the past. Whatever it is, he can’t fight on the outside.
“I’m not going to be the kind of opponent that is going to be right there on the corner for the taking,” said Morrell. “I’m going to be making my own things happen, and with that, I’m going to have to adjust. It’s not going to be just a free-for-all for him where he’s going to be able to pressure me and pin me down the way he’s cornered other opponents in the past.”
Benavidez pinned opponents who were smaller than him against the ropes in the past when he was campaigning at 168. He was a light heavyweight who fought at super middleweight for a weight and size advantage.
When he finally moved up to 175 last summer against former WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he couldn’t dominate him on the inside like he’s done against his smaller foes at 168. That’s why he looked so average and no better than any fringe contender in the division. He didn’t look like a top-five light heavyweight.
Morrell’s Counter Strategy
“I can tell you 100% that I’m going to be able to counter-punch, fight off the back foot for whatever is required of me,” said Morrell. “He can be as aggressive-minded as he wants, but he better not make a mistake because at this level, with the kind of opponent that I am, if he makes a mistake or multiple mistakes, there’s going to be a high price for him to pay,” said Morrell.
Benavidez was hit a lot by Caleb Plant, hurt twice by Anthony Dirrell, nailed frequently by Demetrius Andrade, and dropped by Ronald Gavril. He leaves himself open for counter-shots with his aggressive volume-punching and his decision to fight in close. While that style has worked for him, it also has resulted in him getting hit a lot.
Morrell’s punching power could be too much for Benavidez in the end, and we’ll likely see a knockout by the sixth round. Benavidez will fight like a wild man and get caught by Morrell.
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