Benavidez’s long arm pose challenge for Morrell, Andrade says

Demetrius Andrade questions whether WBA “regular” lightweight champion David Morrell has long enough arms to avoid David Benavidez’s guard when they meet on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Benavidez’s range

Andrade had trouble getting his shots through Benavidez’s guard due to his long arms in their fight last year and was eventually stopped in the sixth round. He was surprised by the sheer size of Benavidez, and he was too big for him.

Cuban Morrell has a much longer reach than Benavidez, at 78″ compared to his 74″, so he shouldn’t have the same problems as Andrade. Demetrius started his professional career at 154 and moved up to 168 in 2023. He had only fought once in the weight class against Demond Nicholson before facing Benavidez.

Benavidez’s reach, weight and youth seemed to give Andrade trouble. He looked much heavier, like a lightweight or cruiserweight fighting a middleweight.

“Being a big, strong guy, he was able to absorb it. He was a lot heavier than me,” Demetrius Andrade said Fight Hub TV about his loss to David Benavidez on November 25, 2023.

“After that fight (Benavidez vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk at 175), he said, ‘I can still make 168,’ because he felt the weight difference. He (Benavidez) wouldn’t be able to do what he can do when he’s not the bully of the weight

“Now, he’s in a good match against David Morrell. They are two boys of the same size. I think David Morrell has talent. I don’t know if he has the experience to beat David. (Morrell) is a big boy. He has decent speed, but is a bit wild with his punches. That comes with experience, of course.”

Benavidez did not look good in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk last summer on June 15 and was outmatched throughout the fight by the stronger fighter. His power seemed weak from the weight, and he was lucky to make the decision. If Gvozdyk had been a more popular fighter, I would have given him the win because he landed the better shots.

Can Morrell adapt?

“David (Benavidez) has long arms. Morrell’s bigger than me,” Andrade said. “When you’re punching him (Benavidez), his arms are so long, it’s hard to hit him. You have to time your shots against him. I don’t know if Morrell has that in him.

“I’m a punter, and David was able, with his length, to block me a lot of times. So you have to set him up with some clean, walking shots,” Andrade said