Morrell vows to ‘Make it look easy’ against Benavidez

David Morrell says he will make it “look easy” to beat David Benavidez in two weeks from today, February 1, in their 12-round light heavyweight headliner.

WBA “regular” lightweight champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) sees Benavidez as simply a “fat” pressure fighter who walks forward, throwing punches, but without “power” in his punches. He says he knows he’s stronger than Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs), which goes without saying.

Benavidez’s lack of power

‘The Mexican Monster’ has no power. He is a volume puncher who thrived for the first 11 years of his career when he was a big fish in a small pond at 168 years old.

Like many younger fighters, Benavidez could burn out fighting in a division far below his body size. Early in his career, we saw the same thing with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Now that Benavidez is at 175, his edge is gone, his lack of punching power is even more of a liability, and he no longer has the size to go around. Now he’s fighting a guy his age, Morrell, but with superior skills and talent, a true knockout artist. It doesn’t sit well with Benavidez.

Morrell: Making it ‘look easy’

“Benavidez is not easy, but I will make it look easy. They are two different things”, said Morrell to the gloves off episode 2. “Every time you come to the gym, you work, work, work. It’s better to cry here than cry in the ring at the fight.

“That’s the thing about this fight. He and I are two guys that like to press as well,” Morrell said of the constant pressure Benavidez applied to his last opponent, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, in his debut at 175 last year on June 15 in Las Vegas. “They both like to push forward. Who is stronger? I know it’s me.

“Everybody says in his last fight that he really didn’t have the power to knock some people out. He doesn’t have anything. That’s my real weight, 175,” Morrell said. Right now, I’m comfortable at that weight.”

Frame-wise, Benavidez is a lightweight and has been his entire career, but his power is more like a middleweight (160 pounds), and he’s taking a lot more punches than when he was fighting at 168. In the Benavidez’s debut at 175 against former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he received a one-run ban in that contest.

Life will be very different for Benavidez at 175 years old. He will be fighting killers like Morrell and facing quality opposition for the first time in his long professional career. As a 12-year pro, Benavidez is like a prospect, stepping up for the first time but not being physically young.

Betrayal of the body

Benavidez’s body has seen the wear and tear of a fighter who has been in the game for over a decade. All the sparring wars have worn him down even more. We’re seeing the effects now, with Benavidez getting hurt left and right in his last fight.

This is the wear and tear of a long career rearing its ugly head. It’s like an old car with 300,000 miles on the odometer. Yes, you fight the car, but it’s still an old car engine and transmission. That’s how it is with Benavidez. Lots of mileage for him.

“I really think I’m seeing a legend. He reminds me a lot of a guy like Evander Holyfield, a guy like Pernell Whitaker,” trainer Ronnie Shields said of Morrell. “The reason he reminds me of those guys is the way he works.

“I give credit to Benavidez because he accompanies him. He didn’t have to. It just goes to show that there are fighters out there who want to fight the best. So now he has an opportunity,” Shields said.

Finally, moving forward

You have to give Benavidez credit for finally stepping up in his twelfth year as a pro to fight Morrell after being called up by him for two solid years. Benavidez has had a very long career and it’s surprisingly taken him this long to start facing elite fighters instead of old, toothless, smaller guys that he’s built his entire 29-0 record on .

There is a formula in this era of boxing where fighters create plastic records fighting the bushes and then bragging about themselves to try and get a big payday. Is Benavidez one of them?

He’s fought the same type of guys as Edgar Berlanga, and it’s hard not to lump ‘The Mexican Monster’ into the same category. As the saying goes, “You are what you eat.” This is fine in professional play manufactured hunts who create undefeated records built 100% by smashing tomato cans.

Benavidez has fought exclusively against lower level opposition and has been a pro for almost 15 years. How can you not fight against quality opposition, especially with a massive size advantage over everyone else?

“What I see in Morrell is a lot of flaws that I can take advantage of,” Benavidez said. “He says he’s a better fighter than me because he’s from Cuba and has trained with Cubans, but that doesn’t mean anything. I grew up among monsters.

Both fighters have faced great opposition during their careers, but Benavidez shouldn’t see this as some kind of honor or war medal to pin to his chest. All fighters do. Benavidez even mentions it as a sign of insecurity. The flaws Benavidez sees in Morrell exist in his own game.

he is projecting his weaknesses in Morrell and not admit that he is even more vulnerable now than when he was wearing himself out fighting smaller and older fighters at 168 to game the system. Benavidez is starting to break down physically now due to his long history in the game.