Will Benavidez’s chin stand up to Morel?
Trainer Kenny Ellis thinks David Benavidez will “overwhelm” David Morrell with volume and break him down in the later rounds. Ellis believes Benavidez will become more intimidating as the rounds go on.
WBC interim light heavyweight champion Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and WBA ‘regular’ champion Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) will meet in 15 days on PBC on Prime Video PPV on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Vegas.
Ellis predicts that Benavidez is a better boxer and it won’t take long for Morrell to figure out Caleb Plant. Plant looked tiny in the ring compared to the bigger, lighter and heavier Benavidez, and didn’t have the power to make him escape.
The power of morale
“Until Morel’s belt hits Benavidez. Those belts are really heavy and if they hit you right they can cause a huge gash, and that would have postponed the whole fight,” trainer Kenny Ellis said. Milk City BoxDavid Morrell says he dropped his WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight belt to David Benavidez after being pushed in the face at a media event in Miami on December 17th.
“In that fight, David Morrell’s got that one-punch power, and he’s going to hold Benavidez. I think ‘The Mexican Monster’ is going to overwhelm him with everything. As the rounds go by, the Mexican Monster is going to get stronger and stronger and he’s going to tear him down.”
He’s got a good punch himself, but I can’t see Morel going outside because he doesn’t have that space to set it up. He doesn’t have to pause that much between punches to set him up because once the Mexican monster starts. He makes you uncomfortable. He doesn’t let you set anything up,” Ellis said.
Benavidez pushed Morel during a media workout, throwing the belt at him. It wasn’t like Morell threw the belt away for no reason. He did this because Benavidez refused to shake his hand and pushed him too hard.
Morel can box, but he will be forced to fight with Benavidez, because he will chase him around the ring. That can work to Morel’s advantage because he likes to move and then stop to throw heavy punches at his oncoming opponents. He will catch them as they go forward. If he bothers Benavidez with a hard shot, he can knock him out.
Asked if he could hit Benavidez hard, Morel said, “It’s a possibility,” his punches not as loud as usual because he’s afraid of being hit by the Cuban. “Anything can happen, but I’m shaking with the ‘Mexican Monster’.”
It’s doubtful that Benavidez will change his usual style of burying his opponents with movement if Morel hits him hard. If you focus on throwing at the head of the ‘Mexican Monster’, that won’t work because he has good punch resistance. However, I’ve never seen Benavidez get hit with so much wrestling power.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk had great power, but he didn’t throw hard enough punches. He was mostly pushing his shots, trying not to tire and focusing on boxing. That style allowed Benavidez to build up a big lead through eight rounds. When Gvozdyk finally made it to the championship rounds, it was too late, and he needed a knockout. That’s the only true puncher who fought Benavidez outside of David Lemieux who was old and over the hill.
“But I like Morel. I think (Caleb) Plant is a better boxer than Morel. I don’t think it’s going to take long for Benavidez to figure him out and support him and do what he does. At the same time, Morel’s got the one-punch power to change things and slow things down. But I think ‘The Mexican I’m rockin’ with Monster’,” Ellis said.
Caleb Plant tried to fight Benavidez on the inside, and took a lot of punishment in the second half of the fight. At first, Caleb did well and won by the fifth. Morel doesn’t fight Benavidez on the inside, but in his fight with Hot Rod, he showed that he has formidable power on the inside.
