Coach 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 formidable as the rounds go on.
WBC interim light heavyweight champion Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and WBA ‘regular’ champ Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) meet in 15 days on PBC on Prime Video PPV on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ellis predicts that Benavidez will not take as long to figure out Morrell as Caleb Plant because he is a better boxer. Plant looked too small in the ring compared to the much bigger, lighter, heavyweight-sized Benavidez, and he didn’t have the power to make him back off.
Morrell’s Power
“As long as Morrell’s belt didn’t hit Benavidez. Those belts are extremely heavy and can cause an extreme gash if they hit you right, and that would have postponed the whole damn fight,” said coach Kenny Ellis to MillCity Boxing, talking about David Morrell throwing his WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight belt at David Benavidez after being shoved by him during their face-off at the media workout in Miami on December 17th.
“In that fight, David Morrell has got that single-punch knockout power where he can catch, and he can catch Benavidez. I just think ‘The Mexican Monster’ is going to overwhelm him with everything. He’s going to break him down because the Mexican Monster gets stronger and stronger as the rounds go.
“He’s got a great punch himself, but I can’t see Morrell outboxing him because he won’t have that space to set it up. He’s not going to have that pause in between punches to set it up, because once the Mexican Monster gets started. he’s going to keep you uncomfortable. He’s not going to let you set nothing up,” said Ellis.
Benavidez shoved Morrell at the media workout, so he threw his belt at him. It wasn’t like Morrell tossed his belt for no reason. He did it because Benavidez pushed him hard when he refused to shake his hand.
Morrell can box, but he’s going to be forced to go to war with Benavidez because he’ll be pursuing him around the ring. That could work in Morrell’s favor because he likes to move and then stop to throw hard punches against his oncoming opponents. He catches them as they’re walking forward. If he nails Benavidez with a hard shot, he might knock him out.
“It’s a possibility,” said Ellis when asked if Morrell may hit Benavidez so hard that his punch volume isn’t as high as it usually is because he’ll be afraid to get hit by the Cuban. “Anything can happen, but I’m rocking with the ‘Mexican Monster.’”
It’s doubtful that Benavidez will change his normal approach of burying his opponents with activity if Morrell hits him hard. If he focuses on throwing to the head of ‘The Mexican Monster,’ that won’t work because he has excellent punch resistance. However, I had never seen Benavidez get hit a lot by a fighter with elite power.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk had great power, but he didn’t throw enough hard punches. He was mostly pushing his shots, trying not to get tired, and focusing on boxing. That style allowed Benavidez to pile up a huge lead through eight rounds. It was too late when Gvozdyk finally did come on in the championship rounds, and he needed a knockout. That’s the only real puncher Benavidez has fought other than David Lemieux, who was old and over the hill when they fought.
“I like Morrell, though. I think [Caleb] Plant is a better boxer than Morrell. I don’t think it’s going to take as long for Benavidez to figure him out, and back him up, and do what he do. At the same time, Morrell has got that one-punch power that can change things and slow things down. But I’m rocking with ‘The Mexican Monster,” said Ellis.
Caleb Plant tried to fight Benavidez on the inside, and took a lot of punishment in the second half of the fight. Early on, Caleb did well, and got the better of him through the fifth. Morrell isn’t going to fight Benavidez on the inside, but if he does, he showed in his fight against Hot Rod that he has formidable power on the inside.
