Trainer Greg Hackett says David Benavidez will use his experience and body to defeat David Morrell on February 1st. Hackett sees this as a competitive fight for the first five rounds, with Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) looking good, but Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) will take the fight and run him down.
Hackett shares many people’s opinion that Benavidez has too much experience in the pros for the 26-year-old Morrell to handle.
Although Morrell had fought many times in the amateurs against better fighters than Benavidez had faced in the pros, he did not have the experience to fight longer fights. Only three of Morrell’s matches have reached the 12th round in his five-year career.
Benavidez-Morell will meet at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in 38 days. The event will be shown live on PBC on Prime Video PPV. Morrell will defend his WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight title in his second bout at 175. Benavidez will have his WBC interim belt on the line.
Benavidez’s aggressive style
“He tried to hit him with his belt. It was crazy,” Greg Hackett said YSM Sports Media about how David Morrell tried to hit David Benavidez with his WBA belt after bumping into him at their media workout.
“They know each other is a threat, and there are many who ride on it. They both have something to prove because they are in a new weight class. Some people like Morrell, and some like Benavidez. You always know it’s a high-intensity fight because your coaches are shown up in camp.
“Look for a real firefight. Look for Morrell to try all his tricks, and look for Benavidez to dig deep and go to that body and really try to get him up. I think it’s a little too early for Morrell. I pick Benavidez all day. I think he’s the more experienced, mean fighter and more proven fighter,” Hackett said.
It won’t be easy for Benavidez to target Morrell’s body because he moves and has a bad left hand, making it risky for the Mexican Monster. He’ll try to go to the body, but he might regret it later if he gets clipped by Morrell.
Coach envisions ‘Dark Beating’
“Morell is going to look good in the first five. Maybe the first three make a turn before I see it, but I say the first five he (Morrell) is going to look good. Then Benavidez is going to start looking more and more, scary looking. It’s starting to get dark. It’s going to be one of those dark beats,” Hackett said.
Morrell was at his best in the early rounds of his August 3 fight against ‘Hot Rod’ Radivoje Kalajdzic, but he seemed to slow down in the second half. However, even in the championship rounds, Morrell still threw with power. Kalajdzic held a lot, which saved him from taking a lot of heavy shots.
Benavidez doesn’t hold, and his defense is his offense. Morrell can do a lot of damage against that type of fighter, and he can even knock him out if Benavidez gets careless.
