David Morrell says he will make it “look easy” by beating David Benavidez in two weeks from today, February 1, in his 12-round lightweight title.
WBA “regular” lightweight champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) sees Benavidez as just a simple “Fat” pressure fighter who walks forward, throwing punches, but without “power” in his fists. He says he knows he’s stronger than Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs), which goes without saying.
Benavidez’s lack of power
“The Mexican Monster” has no power. He is a volume puncher who thrived during the first 11 years of his career when he was a big fish in a small pond at 168.
Like many younger fighters, Benavidez could be draining to fight in a division well below his body size. Early in his career, we saw the same thing with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Now that Benavidez is at 175, his edge is gone, his lack of punching power even more of a liability, and he no longer has the size to go down. Now he’s fighting a guy just like him, Morrell, but with superior skills and talent, a true knockout artist. It doesn’t look good for Benavidez.
Morrell: Making It ‘Look Easy’
“Benavidez is not easy, but I will make it look easy. They are two different things,” said Morrell to the Gloves off episode 2. “Every time you come to the gym, work, work, work. It’s better to cry there than cry in the ring at the fight.
“That’s the problem in this fight. He and I too, we’re both guys who like the pressure,” said Morrell about the constant pressure that Benavidez applied to his last opponent, Oleksandr Gvozdyk in his debut at 175 last year last June 15 in Las Vegas. “Both boys like to advance and pressure. Who is stronger? I know it’s me.
“Everybody said in his last fight he really didn’t have the power to knock some people out. He doesn’t have any. This is my real weight, 175,” Morrell said. Now, I feel comfortable at this weight.”
In terms of frame, Benavidez is a light heavyweight and has been throughout his career, but his power is more like a middleweight (160 lbs), and he has come a lot more than he did when he was fighting at 168. In Benavidez’s debut at 168. 175 against former WBC lightweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he took a career penalty in that contest.
Life will be very different for Benavidez at 175. He will fight killers like Morrell and face quality opposition for the first time in his long professional career. As a 12-year-old pro, Benavidez is like a prospect, stepped up for the first time but is not a physical youth.
The betrayal of the body
Benavidez’s body has seen the wear and tear of a fighter who has been in the game for over a decade. All the wars in sparring have tired him the most. We’re seeing the effects now, with Benavidez coming off injuries left and right in his last fight.
This is the clothing of a long career in rearing its ugly head. It’s like an old car with 300,000 miles on the odometer. Yes, you flash the car, but it’s still an old car engine and transmission. That’s how it is with Benavidez. Lots of mileage on it.
“I really think I’m seeing a legend. He reminds me a lot of a guy like Evander Holyfield, a guy like Pernell Whitaker,” trainer Ronnie Shields said of Morrell. “The reason it reminds me of those guys is because of the way they work.
“Give credit to Benavidez because he hangs with him. He didn’t have to. It just shows that you have fighters who want to fight the best. So, now he’s getting an opportunity,” Shields said.
Finally Stepping up
You have to give Benavidez credit for FINALLY stepping up in his twelfth year as a pro to take the fight against Morrell after being called out by him for two solid years. Benavidez has had a very long career, and surprisingly, it took him that long to start taking on elite fighters rather than old, toothless, smaller guys as he built his entire 29-0 record.
There is a formula in this era of boxing where fighters create plastic discs fighting the scrubs and then bragging about themselves trying to get a big cash-out payday. Is Benavidez one of them?
He fought the same type of guys as Edgar Berlanga, and it’s hard not to put “The Mexican Monster” in the same category. As they say, “You are what you eat.” That’s fine in the pro game for manufactured fighters who create unbeatable records built 100% on beating tomato cans.
Benavidez has only fought lower level opposition, and has been a pro for nearly 15 years. How not to fight quality opposition, especially with a massive size advantage over everyone?
“What I see in Morrell are a lot of flaws that I can take advantage of,” Benavidez said. “He says he’s a better fighter than me because he’s from Cuba and trained with Cubans, but that doesn’t mean anything. I grew up sparring with monsters.
Both fighters have sparred with very good opposition during their careers, but Benavidez shouldn’t see this as some kind of honor or war medal to press on his chest. All fighters do that. Benavidez also cites it as a sign of insecurity. The flaws Benavidez sees in Morrell exist in his own game.
Is it to project his weaknesses on Morrell and failing to admit that he is even more vulnerable now than he was when he was drained to fight smaller and older fighters at 168 to game the system. Benavidez is starting to break down physically now because of his long career in the game.
