Lonnie Thompson leans on David Benavidez defeating David Morrell in their fight in 30 days on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Thompson sparred with Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and was impressed with his engine and how he attacked his body.
Lonnie B thinks WBC interim light heavyweight champion Benavidez will break WBA ‘regular’ champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) with pressure and knock him out at some point in the fight.
Underrated Morrell
He sees Benavidez as a KO puncher for some reason, but he clearly isn’t, especially at 175, where he’s finally facing guys his own size after years of campaigning against smaller fighters at 168. Morrell is a real knockout artist, and if it comes to being a KO in this fight, it will be him who does it.
The real picture is that Benavidez is VERY weak in the upper body and is forced to use volume punching as his route to winning his fights. His power is at the lower end of the spectrum for light heavyweight contenders. That’s why he was ineffective last summer in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Benavidez’s lack of upper body strength reminds me of a T-Rex dinosaur’s arms. There is no strength, like a rudimentary feature of the long extinct creature’s withered arms.
“I got David Benavidez. David Morrell is really smooth, but he has the kind of style where you have to put pressure on him. If you put pressure on him and go to his body, you will find him. David (Benavidez) specializes in that,” Lonnie Thompson said Pro Boxing Fanspredict that Benavidez will defeat Morrell.
Considering Morrell wasn’t beaten, Thompson’s comment about how to beat him was based on guesswork rather than one he’d seen before. No one has beaten Morrell in the pro ranks or come close.
“He (Benavidez) has to be careful with the slick counters because David Morrell does have some pop, and he does have slick counters. I think with the way David fights, he’s going to give David Morrell problems because he’s not going to allow him to be smooth, and do all the smooth things he does with his feet,” says Thompson.
Morrell has more than a “little doll.” He is probably the biggest puncher in the light heavyweight division. So, for Lonnie to say that Morrell only has a “little” power suggests that he hasn’t watched him fight properly and has no idea what he’s talking about. He’s obviously more familiar with Benavidez than he is with Morrell, which is understandable since he’s been a pro for 12 years since 2013 and has plenty of miles on the odometer.
“He will have to keep working and working. There’s going to come a time where he’s going to have to fight David, because David (Benvidez) is good at coming and leaving his hands,” says Lonnie B. “So, if David Morrell can catch him in between and hurt him, that’s the only chance I give him to win.”
No, Thompson is wrong. Morrell has more of a chance of winning this fight than knocking out Benavidez. He can beat him by decision by outboxing or knocking him out. His boxing skills are superior to Benavidez’s because of his long amateur career, fighting the top fighters in Cuba and on the world stage.
Benavidez wasn’t having it. He turned pro rather than going the amateur route and has always been a pure slugger, mostly due to him fighting in a weight class below his massive light heavyweight frame at super middleweight.
“David Benavidez showed me a lot. After his last fight (Oleksandr Gvozdyk), no, he’s genuine,” Thompson said of Benavidez’s last fight against 37-year-old former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15.
“I don’t think he’s going to have many knockouts, but that kid hit him with some shots. That kid, Oleksandr (Gvozdyk), beat him with some shots, and he can punch. He (Benavidez) took them well and came back and let his hands go,” Lonnie B.
Sounds like Lonnie didn’t watch the Benavidez-Gvozdyk fight. Benavidez did not “come back”. He gassed out and took a beating throughout the second half of the fight and was getting the tar beaten out of him by Gvozdyk in rounds 9 through 12. He was hit with shots that would put a hole through a wall hit.
Yes, Benavidez landed the punches, but he didn’t come back. He was a punching bag in the last four rounds. Lonnie B may have seen highlights on YouTube that favored Benavidez, but that’s not how the fight played out in rounds six through twelve. Looking exhausted and weak, David was pounded by the stronger Gvozdyk.
Thompson’s prediction
“However, David Morrell was not tested like that. I lean more toward David Benavidez because I sparred with him,” Thompson said. “He hits the body very well. Just from my observation, I don’t think David Morrell is going to be able to take it over 12 rounds.”
It will be a mistake for Benavidez to try to go to Morrell’s body as he will leave his head open for power shots. He could end up being knocked out like Sena Agbeko and Yamaguchi Falcão. These guys tried to attack Morrell’s body and were quickly knocked out. Benavidez will be a sitting duck if he lowers his hands to target Morrell’s midsection.
“Yeah, but I could be wrong, but I think David Benavidez is going to stop him,” said Lonnie B. “David has one of those styles. When you look at him, you’re like, ‘Okay,’ but when you get in there with him, it’s a lot harder than I thought.”
Benavidez is not a knockout, and certainly not at 175. The guys he knocked out at 168 were small and old, like Demetrius Andrade, Roamer Alexis Angulo, David Lemieux and Anthony Dirrell. All those guys were smaller than Benavidez and 35-ish.
“I thought he would be there for this shot, but he wasn’t. His hands are up, he takes a good hit, and he comes back. His work rate is high. You have to be in tip-top position to keep up with him. It’s going to be a good fight, but I’m leaning more toward David Benavidez,” Lonnie B said.
Benavidez will have trouble using his volume punch against Morrell because he moves and chooses when to engage with his opponent. His slow feet will make it difficult for him to get to Morrell and land his volume. Unfortunately, he moves like Frankenstein’s monster and can only land his shots against stationary fighters.
