Demetrius Andrade questions whether “regular” WBA lightweight champion David Morrell has the arms long enough to get around David Benavidez’s guard when they meet on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Benavidez’s reach
Andrade had trouble landing 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 size of Benavidez, and it was too big for him.
The Cuban Morrell has a much longer reach than Benavidez, from 78 “compared to his 74”, so he should not have the same problems that Andrade did. Demetrius started his professional career at 154 and moved 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 problems. He looked much heavier, like a lightweight or a cruiserweight fighting a middleweight.
“Because he was a big and strong man, he was able to absorb it. He weighed much heavier than me,” said Demetrius Andrade to 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 do 168”, because he felt the difference in weight. He (Benavidez) could not do what he can do when he is not the bully of weight
“Right now, he’s in a good matchup against David Morrell. It’s two guys the same size. I think David Morrell is talented. I don’t know if he has the experience to really beat David. (Morrell) is a big boy. He’s got decent speed, but he’s a little wild with his punches. That comes with experience, of course.”
Benavidez didn’t look good in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk last summer on June 15 and was beaten the entire fight by the stronger fighter. His power seemed weak under the weight, and he was lucky to make the decision. If Gvozdyk had been a more popular fighter, he would have gotten the win because he landed the best shots.
Can Morrell fit?
“David (Benavidez) has long arms. Morrell is bigger than me,” Andrade said. “When you throw punches at him (Benavidez), his arms are so long that it’s hard to hit him. You have to point your shots against him. I don’t know if Morrell has that in him.
“I’m a sharpshooter, and David was able, with his length, to block a lot of shots from me. So, you have to put it in order with some clean traps, going,” said Andrade
