David Morrell is rejecting any chance that interim WBC lightweight champion David Benavidez will knock him out in their fight on February 1.
(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) says that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) does not have the power at 175 to do anything to him in his match, and he will be eliminated in his 12-round. main event fight on PBC on Prime Video PPV. Morrell has great power, speed, movement, skills and a youthful edge.
Although Benavidez is only a year older at 27, he looks in his early 30s. That could be due to all the hard sparring he’s had over the years with fighters like Gennadiy Golovkin. Being hit by someone like that will make someone old.
Volume Punching will be risky for Benavidez
Benavidez was never a big puncher when he fought at 168, and most of his knockouts were from an accumulation of shots against much smaller, lesser opponents. Therefore, the ‘weight bully’ the label that Benavidez was given by some hardcore boxing fans, who noted that he was a giant for the super middleweight division after he rehydrated.
If Benavidez is going to try to overwhelm Morrell with bulk, he’s going to put himself at risk of being knocked out because he’s seen as the biggest puncher in the 175 lb division. Morrell arguably has better power than Artur Beterbiev, and will hurt Benavidez if he tries to throw a lot of punches. This style only worked at 168, but is not suitable for the 175 lb division. If Benavidez keeps fighting like this, he could eat his foot through a straw for the rest of his days.
Benavidez’s first fight at 175 was on June 15, last summer, against former WBC lightweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk. He showed no power and was weak compared to his opponent.
This fight was almost a nightmare for Benavidez as he took a massive amount of punishment and was lucky the match was staged in Nevada as it appeared to be a draw. The judges gave the win to Benavidez, but he didn’t look like he was winning.
Benavidez’s lack of power showed that he had to depend 100% on punching volume at 175 lbs. to win fights, not on his size and certainly not on his punching power.
Morrell: Benavidez is Nervous
David Benavidez: “You were talking all that shit. I’ll break your jaw. Man, you’re a stupid piece of shit. Why are you excited? Now, he has to go on Instagram. Look at this guy. He’s nervous, man,” Benavidez said during Tuesday’s news conference.
David Morrell: “You don’t have the power at 175. You have the power to break your mouth? Hell, no. Hell, no. You don’t have the power. Shut the fuck up, what do you mean?”
Morrell is right that Benavidez doesn’t have the power to break his jaw, but he’s still going with the same mentality he had when he fought at 168. When Benavidez fought in that weight class, he was so much bigger than his opponents that could use their size to overwhelm them. Things are different at 175. He is just one of the regular contenders. His interim WBC is a trinket title and means nothing. Of course, it doesn’t translate to Benavidez being at the level of the top fighters.
“It’s simple. It’s nervous. What does a cat do when it’s threatened? It pulls out its claws, and that’s what it did. It feels threatened. It’s intimidated,” Morrell told the media about Benavidez making threats during his press conference today.
“I have everything for David Benavidez. I have the move, the dance. I’m fast and I have power. A lot of people who fight Benavidez have three or two or one. I have everything to (beat) Benavidez. I have everything. I’ve got the legs. I can do it ” Morrell said.
