Lonnie Thompson heads to David Benavidez defeating David Morrell in their fight in 30 days on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Thompson sparred with Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and was impressed with his motor and how he attacked his body.
Lonnie B thinks interim WBC lightweight champion Benavidez will break WBA “regular” champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) with pressure and knock him out at some point in the fight.
Underestimate Morrell
He sees Benavidez as a KO puncher for some reason, but he clearly isn’t, especially at 175, where he’s finally facing guys his own size after years of campaigning against smaller fighters at 168. Morrell is a true knockout artist, and if there is one. be a KO in this fight, he will be the one to do it.
The real picture is that Benavidez is VERY weak in the upper body and is forced to use punching volume as his way to win his fight. His strength is on the lower end of the spectrum for lightweight contenders. That’s why he was ineffective in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk last summer. Benavidez’s lack of upper body strength reminds me of the arms of a T-Rex dinosaur. There is no power, as a vestigial characteristic of the withered arms of the long-extinct creature.
“I had David Benavidez. David Morrell is real slick, but he has the kind of style where you have to put pressure on him. If you put pressure on him and go to his body, you’re going to get him. David (Benavidez) specializes in that,” said Lonnie Thompson to Pro Boxing fanssuppose Benavidez defeats Morrell.
Considering Morrell has not been beaten, Thompson’s commentary on how to beat him is based on guesswork rather than what he has seen before. No one has beaten Morrell in the pro ranks or come close.
“He (Benavidez) has to be careful with slick counters because David Morrell has a little pop, and he has slick counters. I think that with the way David fights, he will give problems to David Morrell because he did not let himself be slick, making all the slick things he does with his feet,” Thompson said.
Morrell has more than a “little pop.” He is arguably the greatest puncher in the lightweight division. So for Lonnie to say that Morrell only has “a little” power suggests that he hasn’t seen him fight properly and has no idea what he’s talking about. He’s obviously more familiar with Benavidez than he is with Morrell, which is understandable because he’s been a pro for 12 years since 2013 and has a lot of miles on the odometer.
“He will continue to work and work. There will come a time where he will have to fight David because David (Benvidez) is good to come and leave his hands,” said Lonnie B. “So if David Morrell can catch in between and you hurt him, that’s the only chance I give him to win.”
No, Thompson is wrong. Morrell has more of a chance of winning this fight than knocking out Benavidez. He can beat him by decision by outboxing or out-punching. His boxing skills are superior to Benavidez because of his long amateur career, fighting the best fighters in Cuba and the world.
Benavidez wasn’t having that. He turned pro instead of going the amateur route and has always been a pure slugger, mostly due to fighting in a weight class below his massive lightweight frame at super middleweight.
“David Benavidez showed me a lot. After his last fight (Oleksandr Gvozdyk), no, it’s for real,” Thompson said of Benavidez’s last fight against the 37-year-old former WBC lightweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15.
“I don’t think he’s going to have a lot of knockouts, but that kid hit him with some shots. That kid, Oleksandr (Gvozdyk), hit him with some shots, and he can punch. He (Benavidez) took them well and turned and dropped his hands,” said Lonnie B.
Looks like Lonnie didn’t watch the Benavidez-Gvozdyk fight. Benavidez is not “turned”. He gassed out and took a beating throughout the second half of the fight and was getting the tar beaten out of him by Gvozdyk in rounds 9 through 12. He was hit with shots that hit a hole through a wall.
Yes, Benavidez took punches, but he didn’t come back. He was a punching bag in the last four rounds. Lonnie B may have seen highlight clips on YouTube favoring Benavidez, but that’s not how the fight played out in rounds six through twelve. David looked tired and weak, being pummeled by the stronger Gvozdyk.
Thompson’s forecast
“David Morrell hasn’t been tested like that, though. I’m leaning more toward David Benavidez because I spar with him,” Thompson said. “He punches really well to the body. Just from my observation, I don’t think David Morrell is going to be able to take that more than 12 rounds.
It would be a mistake for Benavidez to try to go to Morrell’s body because it leaves his head open for power shots. He could end up being kicked out like Sena Agbeko and Yamaguchi Falcão. Those guys tried to attack Morrell’s body and were quickly eliminated. Benavidez will be a sitting duck if he lowers his hands to target Morrell’s midsection.
“Yeah, but I could be wrong, but I think David Benavidez is going to stop him,” said Lonnie B. “David’s got one of those styles. When you look at him, you’re like, ‘Okay,’ but when you get there with him, it’s much harder than I thought.”
Benavidez is not a knockout puncher, and definitely not at 175. The guys he knocked out at 168 were small and old, like Demetrius Andrade, Roamer Alexis Angulo, David Lemieux and Anthony Dirrell. All those guys were younger than Benavidez and 35-ish.
“I thought he’d be there for that shot, but he’s not. His hands are up, he takes a good punch, and he comes back. His work rate is high. You’ve got to be in top position to stay with him . It’s going to be a good fight, but I’m leaning more toward David Benavidez,” said Lonnie B.
Benavidez will have problems with his punching volume against Morrell because he moves and chooses when he wants to engage with his opponent. His slow feet will make it difficult for him to get to Morrell and land his volume. Unfortunately, he moves like Frankenstein’s monster and can only land his shots against stationary fighters.
