David Benavidez will face WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight will be announced next week.
Fans may see Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) replaced by Cuban talent Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs), who possesses more power, hand speed and overall ability than the ‘Mexican Monster’ or should I say, ‘The Ecuadorian monster.’
“On February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, there would be the duel between David Benavidez and David Morrell. They can host the event next week in California,” said Salvador Rodriguez X.
Morrell’s power can destroy Benavidez
If Benavidez loses to Morrell, he could permanently forget about fighting Canelo Alvarez because he will never be able to redeem himself in time to get a glimpse of a fight against the superstar before he retires.
Benavidez is a favorite for casual boxing fans unfamiliar with Morrell, but that’s because they haven’t seen the Cuban star in action. We could see a knockout win for Morrell because Benavidez is aggressive, some say, ‘reckless’ style of fighting puts him in the line of fire with the way he gets up in front of his opponents to focus on throw combos.
The massive Benavidez got away with that fighting style when he fought super middleweights because he was much bigger than his opponents.
Still, when he moved up to 175 last summer for his debut in the weight class against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he discovered just how difficult life would be for him. Gvozdyk nailed Benavidez with a lot of hard punches and dominated the second half.
Benavidez was full of excuses after the fight and tried to explain away his performance, but the fans saw the truth. He’s not the same fighter without the size advantage he was used to at 168.
There is no word yet on who will be on the undercard, but that may not matter as there is enough fan interest in the Benavidez vs. Morrell fight so the event will do well without a massive card.
Benavidez needs to raise his game
The last fight for Benavidez against Gvozdyk showed that he is not the same fighter at 175 that he was at 168, and he lacks the power. His torso is lean and slender. Benavidez can’t generate power like the big hitters in the light heavyweight division.
The Best Power Punchers at 175
- David Morrell: The King
- Artur Beterbiev
- Joshua Butter
- Anthony Yarde
The Benavidez-Morrell fight was scheduled for January 25th, but it’s being moved a week later, which isn’t a big deal. Whoever emerges victorious could challenge for the WBC title at some point after undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev faces Dmitri Bivol in a rematch.
