Lonnie Thompson says David Benavidez has a tough fight on his hands against WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell on February 1st. Thompson sees Benavidez having a tough time with former Cuban amateur talent Morrell, but he is unsure who will win.
(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Morrell’s power and technical skills give him a huge advantage over Benavidez, who can’t punch and depends on his size, volume and aggressiveness to win.
Benavidez’s Kryptonite
Benavidez’s upper body is like a withered, emaciated one vestigial featurealmost like the useless arms of a T-Rex dinosaur. He has no strength or size in his upper body and depends on volume to win his fights. It’s going to be hard for Benavidez to win with volume against Morrell because he’s so much stronger with his power and upper body strength.
The way he breaks things down, Morrell could win based on his speed, strength, size, technical skills and athleticism. Morrell has advantages in every category besides experience in the pro game. Still, he has more time in the amateurs, and fights better opposition than the limited fighters Benavidez has fought in the pros.
Thompson feels that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) will have to worry about what comes back at him from Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) as he is just as big but a bigger puncher, smoother and has good feet
Benavidez owes much of his success to fighting below his natural weight class, draining from light heavyweight to compete at 168. Had Benavidez moved up to 175 earlier, his career likely would never have gotten this far, and would he be one of the pack, no better off than any of the other contenders.
Benavidez is not the same fighter as a light heavyweight, as he was at 168. He is like Superman in the presence of Kryptonite, and he has lost his power.
Thompson says it made Benavidez look good. He didn’t look nearly as good when he finally moved up to 175 in his last fight, fighting 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdhyk on June 15.
“It’s a tough battle. David Morrell is really, really good. I don’t know (know who’s going to win the fight) because David Morrell is big too. He’s big for super middleweight,” said Lonnie Thompson Battle hypetalking about the David Benavidez vs David Morrell fight on February 1st.
They are now both at 175 and will meet on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Benavidez will have his WBC 175-pound interim title on the line, and Morrell will put his WBA ‘ordinary’ belt on the line. Their event will be shown live on PBC Prime Video PPV.
Morrell’s Cuban style of boxing
“He’s big, he can punch, and he’s smooth. He’s got that Cuban style that’s really smooth and offensive with it,” Thompson said of Morrell. “Those styles are hard for anyone to fight, even the Mexican Monster,” especially with the style that David has.”
The size and careful matchups allowed Benavidez to dominate at 168 for the last 11 years. He hasn’t fought cutting edge competition in all these years, except Caleb Plant if you want to call him ‘cutting edge’. He is not.
“David is not really smooth. He just uses his size to wear guys down. He walks them down. He’s so big, and you hit him, but you can’t get him good because he’s so big,” Thompson said of Benavidez. “With David Morrell, he’s really going to have to worry about heat being thrown back at him.”
Without Benavidez’s size advantage in his last fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk at 175, he looked like a below-average fighter and was lucky to win. Benavidez’s lovesick fans thought it was a dominating performance, but they saw him through rose-colored glasses and saw him unrealistically. He did not dominate Gvozdyk.
Indeed, he fell away in the second half and lost six straight rounds in real terms. The judges gave Benavidez the decision, but it was a draw. He got the A-side treatment from the judges, but they can’t save him this time against Morrell.
Footwork and punching power
“David Morrell has very good feet. So, I think that will give David trouble, and he can punch,” Thompson said.
“When you guys are too small for you, you’re supposed to look like that,” Thompson said of how Benavidez dominated when he fought at super middleweight. “He should look like that against guys who are too small for him.”
