Veteran Gabe Rosado says David Morrell will need to “set traps” for him to hurt volume puncher David Benavidez in their fight in 48 days on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Rosado doesn’t think Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) can match the high production of Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and could be knocked out by him by being buried with volume.
Many fans see Benavidez as too experienced for Morrell, and his volume makes him a nightmare. However, the Cuban Morrell’s power, mobility and boxing skills give him a huge advantage. After a fight at 175, Morrell seems better suited to the division than Benavidez.
Morrell will put his WBA “regular” lightweight title on the line against interim WBC champion Benavidez in their PBC headliner on Prime Video PPV. The winner of this fight will be able to challenge for the undisputed championship at 175.
Rosado forecast
“David Morrell vs. David Benavidez. I prefer Benavidez, but you can’t sleep on Morrell,” said Gabe Rosado to Fight Hub TV about the February 1 match between these two fighters. “Benavidez didn’t need to take this fight. Morrell was the one who needed this fight.
“Morrell kind of hit the jackpot. So, if he can win this fight, he’s there, because nobody was really named Morrell. So, that kind of shows what kind of dog Benavidez is. It’s like, ‘Okay , whatever. Let’s go.
“No one acts like that with Benavidez,” Rosado said of Morrell, who trash-talked Benavidez during his face. “It will be a fire. They will both meet. It will be a matter of who can take it because they both go to the ground.
This is a great fight for Morrell to prove himself against a guy that many fans feel is a future star. Benavidez has held back for the past 11 years, choosing to fight at 168 rather than move up to 175, where he has more opportunities for interesting fights. If he had moved up to lightweight in 2014, his career would have been further along. Benavidez foolishly thought that Canelo Alvarez would end up fighting, and he waited for 10 years. What a mistake.
“I think Morrell is the bigger puncher of the two, but Benavidez knocks you out with volume,” Rosado said. “So who’s going to win? Is it going to be power or is it going to be volume? That’s what it’s going to come down to because I don’t think Morrell is going to be able to match Benavidez’s volume.”
There is no guessing who is the bigger puncher between Morrell and Benavidez. It’s clearly Morrell. Could Benavidez be a bigger puncher if he wasn’t focused on punching volume? Probably, but he prefers to throw punches rather than charge.
The Strategy: Traps
“He constantly beats you up. He doesn’t get tired. So Morrell is going to have to set traps to land shots in that fight,” Rosado said.
Benavidez gets tired. We saw that in his last fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15. He was tired after six rounds and took a lot of hard punches from Gvozdyk in the second half of the contest.
