Morrell’s power poses a threat to Benavidez’s aggressive style

David Morrell says interim WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez won’t be able to fight him offensively on February 1st because he won’t quit.

(Credits: 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 usually does. If Benavidez chooses to fight in his normal, reckless fashion, Morrell warns, it will be a mistake he will live to regret.

Benavidez-Morrell will headline 26 days from now 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 ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez, 28.

It will be interesting to see how much punishment Benavidez can take in this fight before going down. If he doesn’t change his ultra-aggressive fighting style for this fight, Morrell will take him out for sure because this guy is one of the biggest punchers in the 175-pound division. He has the punching power, and he can KO Benavidez if he fights like a wild man like he normally does.

“It’s all part of the show. I don’t know if Benavidez has tried any twisted psychological warfare with anyone else in the past. I’m sharp-minded and focused on February 1,” said David Morrell Sean Zittel. “I’m not going to play any mind games.

“Put your money where your mouth is. It’s one thing to say you’re going to do it, but it’s another thing to get in the ring to actually do it,” said Morrell, reacting to being told that Benavidez says he will pressure him relentlessly in every round.

“Let’s see if he is able to do everything he says he wants to do. This will be a completely different fight compared to their previous fights. He won’t be able to be as offensive and aggressive as he has been because this won’t be that type of fight,” said Morrell.

Inside

Benavidez only knows one style of fighting: pressure his opponents on the inside. Although he is 6’2” tall, he has no outside game. He’s 100% an inside, one-dimensional fighter, so he has no choice but to press. If the fight is from a distance, Morrell will cook him.

The power difference could sink Benavidez because he’s just a volume puncher and can’t generate any pop in his punches. This is a product of his weak upper body. He has not been blessed with strength like Morrell or Artur Beterbiev. On the inside, Morrell is much more powerful and able to eliminate his opponents.

Seeing what he did to Radivoje Kalajdzic in the third round of their fight last August was scary. Kalajdzic swarmed Morrell, hoping to get the best of him inside. Morrell then unleashed a flurry of headshots, all with knockout power, staggering Kalajdzic.

Benavidez doesn’t have any kind of power inside, and he could find himself in trouble when he tries to fight Morrell up 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 your body or a bad experience you had in the past. Whatever it is, it can’t fight from the outside.

“I’m not going to be the type of opponent that’s going to be right there in the corner for the grab,” Morrell said. “I’m going to make my own things happen, and with that, I’m going to have to adjust. It’s not just going to be a free game for him where he can put pressure on 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 lightweight who fought at super middleweight to gain 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 has 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 lightweight.

Morrell’s counter-strategy

“I can tell you 100 percent that I will be able to punch, fight on the back foot for whatever is required of me,” Morrell said. “He can be as aggressive as he wants, but he better not make any mistakes because at this level, with the type of opponent I am, if he makes a mistake or makes multiple mistakes, there will be a heavy price for him to pay,” he said. Morrell.

Benavidez was hit hard by Caleb Plant, hurt twice by Anthony Dirrell, pinned frequently by Demetrius Andrade and dropped by Ronald Gavril. He leaves himself open to counter shots with his aggressive volume punches and his decision to fight in close. While this style has worked for him, it has also resulted in him getting beat up a lot.

Morrell’s punching power could be too much for Benavidez in the end, and we’ll likely see a knockout in the sixth round. Benavidez will fight like a wild man and get caught by Morrell.