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 the former Cuban amateur talent, Morrell, but he’s unsure who wins.
(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Morrell’s power and technical skills give him a big advantage over Benavidez, who can’t punch and depend on his size, volume, and aggressiveness to win.
Benavidez’s Kryptonite
Benavidez’s upper body is like a withered, emaciated vestigial feature, almost 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 difficult 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, power, size, technical skills, and athleticism. Morrell has advantages in every category except experience in the pro game. Still, he has more time in the amateurs, fighting better opposition than the limited fighters that Benavidez has fought in the pros.
Thompson feels that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) is going to have to worry about what is coming back at him from the Cuban Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) because he’s just as big but is a bigger puncher, slick 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. If Benavidez had moved up to 175 earlier, his career likely would have never gotten this far, and he’d 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’s like Superman in the presence of Kryptonite, and he’s lost his power.
Thompson says that made Benavidez look good. He didn’t look nearly as good when he finally moved up to 175 in his last fight, and struggled against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdhyk on June 15th.
“It’s a tough fight. David Morrell is really, really good. I don’t [know who is going to win the fight], because David Morrell is big too. He’s big for super middleweight,” said Lonnie Thompson to Fighthype, talking about the David Benavidez vs. David Morrell fight on February 1st.
They’re both at 175 now, set to meet on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Benavidez will have his WBC interim 175-lb title at stake, and Morrell will be putting his WBA ‘regular’ belt at risk. Their event will be shown live on PBC on Prime Video PPV.
Morrell’s Cuban Boxing Style
“He’s big, he can punch, and he’s slick. He’s got that Cuban style that’s real slick and offensive with it,” said Thompson about Morrell. “Those styles are tough for anybody to fight, even the Mexican Monster,’ especially with the style David has got.”
The size and careful matchmaking allowed Benavidez to dominate for the last 11 years at 168. He didn’t fight cutting-edge competition all those years other than Caleb Plant if you want to call him ‘cutting-edge.’ He’s not.
“David is not really slick. He just uses his size to wear guys down. He walks them down. He’s so big, and you’re hitting him, but you can’t get him good because he’s so big,” said Thompson about Benavidez. “With David Morrell, he would really have to worry about some 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 love-sick fans thought it was a dominant performance, but they saw him through rose-colored glasses, viewing him unrealistically. He did not dominate Gvozdyk.
Indeed, he caved in the second half and lost six consecutive rounds in real terms. The judges gave Benavidez the decision, but that 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 really good feet. So, I think that would give David some trouble, and he can punch,” said Thompson.
“When you’re guys too small for you, you’re supposed to look like that,” said Thompson about how Benavidez dominated when fighting at super middleweight. “He should look like that against guys too small for him.”
