Benavidez’s power fade: Can he handle Morrell at 175?

Coach Jose Benavidez Sr. says his son, WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez, will “hurt” WBA ‘regular’ champion David Morrell in their final in Las Vegas on February 1st. Jose Sr. saying that Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) hasn’t been on this “stage” before, while Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) has.

Can Benavidez hurt Morrell?

Jose Sr. feel that the 26-year-old Morrell will crumble from the pressure of having all the attention on him. That sounds like wishful thinking on Papa Benavidez’s part, because what we saw in the Mexican Monster’s debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk was that he’s a mere mortal now that he’s moved up to 168.

That fight showed that Benavidez might have to start thinking about a return to the super middleweight division if things fall apart for him at light heavyweight. If Benavidez loses to Morrell by knockout, as some are suggesting, he should cut down and try to get back to 168.

Like many fighters who move up in weight, Benavidez isn’t the same guy and doesn’t fit in the 175-lb division like Morrell. In his light heavyweight debut, Cuban talent Morrell Radivoje repeatedly hurt Kalajdzic with single shots to the head, putting him in trouble almost immediately in the first round and staggered him throughout.

No one had ever done that to Kalajdzic, not even Artur Beterbiev. Morrell’s strength at 175 is higher than any top-level fighter at light heavyweight.

Examine Benavidez’s frame

In contrast, Benavidez’s strength, or lack thereof, is that of a 168-pound welterweight, and one reason for that is his weak, emaciated upper body. Benavidez has a withered, weakened upper body. It’s always been that way, but at 175 it’s more of a hindrance against the powerful top predators in this weight class, like David Morrell.

“People say that he (Benavidez) is not the same. I was about to cancel that fight (Oleksandr Gvozdyk). He injured his right hand. He’s fine now, and he had a cut over his eye two weeks before the fight,” Jose Benavidez Sr. said. Fight Hub TV about David Benavodez’s poor performance in his last fight on June 15th.

“He is strong, healthy, motivated and we’re going to hurt David Morrell on February 1. He (Benavidez) is the one who called Al Haymon and said he wanted the fight with David Morrell. I want to thank David Morrell’s team. It was an easy fight to make.

“He has strength, IQ and speed. Plus, he’s left-handed,” Jose Sr. said. said about Morrell. “We are excited to fight David Morrell. “I’m glad that people want to see this fight. Many people think Morrell can win. There are levels to boxing, and David (Benavidez) has been at this kind of stage. This is Morrell’s first stint, fighting for two titles. I think David is going to be the winner.”

Fans aren’t buying Benavidez’s excuses for double hand injury from his June 15 fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Benavidez was landing his punches just like he always had at 168. He is NOT the same fighter at 175 as he was at super middleweight, and he won’t be.

Benavidez’s lack of power at 175

Benavidez is a textbook example of a weight bully. Now that he’s fighting close to his real weight class, he’s just a shell of his former self. He should be at cruiserweight, but at least 175, he’s closer, and his power isn’t nearly good enough to dominate in this weight class like it was at 168.

Benavidez cannot afford to keep posting in front of his opposition, and focuses on volume punching. He took a career’s worth of punishment on the head from the heavy-handed Gvozdyk, but it won’t end well for him if he tries it against David Morrell. He is the #1 power puncher in the light heavyweight division, the top predator, and will hurt Benavidez.

As always, Benavidez threw machine gun combinations, but the difference was that it didn’t let the equally bigger and more powerful Gvozdyk down. Benavidez quickly fell off the pace, throwing as many punches while carrying extra weight and getting hit harder than he ever had during his 11 years fighting smaller opposition at 168.

“I came to (Morrell) and said, ‘We’re going to take that clock away from you.’ He (Benavidez) sparred everyone from 168 to 175, and he’s a world champion (correction: WBC interim 175-lb champion, NOT world champion). That’s why they call him the ‘Mexican Monster,’” Jose Sr. said. said about Benavidez.

Jose Sr. goes way overboard by saying that Benavidez has fought “everyone” at super middleweight and light heavyweight. Benavidez did NOT fight all at 168 or 175. His best win at 168 came against Caleb Plant, and that guy was almost knocked out by Trevor McCumby in his last fight.

The ‘Mexican Monster’ has largely fought older guys, and he only has one fight under his belt at 175 against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk. This guy was retired for four years from 2019 to 2023 and only made a comeback last year.

At super middleweight, Benavidez didn’t fight either of these Killers:

Canelo Alvarez
Jaime Munguia
Christian Mbilli
Osley Iglesias
Diego Pacheco
Edgar Berlanga

The reality is that Benavidez is just as closely matched at super middleweight as Edgar Berlanga, but he and his father, Jose Sr., talked a lot about making it seem like he was doing more than he really was.