Zab Judah and Anthony Dirrell believe WBC interim welterweight champion David Benavidez has too much experience for David Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) and will defeat him in their 12-round main event on February 1st at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
12 years of damages: the toll that has been taken
The wear and tear of a long, grueling 12-year career is starting to show on ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez.
Although he is young at 28 years old, the punishment he received makes him look much older physically, like someone in his mid to late 30s. We’re seeing it now, as he enters fights with multiple injuries, stamina issues and slowed reflexes.
In Benavidez’s last fight, head resembled a door stop on June 15, he was shot by Oleksandr Gvozdyk. He didn’t block anything and Gvozdyk hit him at will. If the Ukrainian fighter hadn’t recently retired for four years, he probably would have knocked out Benavidez.
Dirrell has first-hand experience of fighting Benavidez on September 28, 2019, and was stopped in the ninth round due to a stoppage. He stunned him twice with a left hook, but was unable to finish him off. Benavidez was much bigger than Dirrell and looked like a light heavyweight.
Weight Bully
People criticize Benavidez for fighting outside of his natural weight, competing at 168 rather than 175. Although he was young enough to dehydrate at the weight, he probably wouldn’t have been able to do so if there was a strict rehydration 10lb limit to prevent him to explode. In other words, Benavidez was a bully with weight, and Judah and Dirrell don’t mention that.
Judah thinks Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) will knock Morrell out early, using his punching volume. He piles on his opponents and throws punches non-stop. That’s what he did with Dirrell and tried to do with his last opponent, Oleksandr Gvozdyk. In that case it failed.
“I believe the fight lasts four rounds. David Benavidez by knockout,” said Zab Judah MillCity boxingpicking Benavidez to stop David Morrell on February 1st. “David comes in the first round.
“I think it’s going to take longer than that,” Anthony Dirrell said. “David [Benavidez] he doesn’t have one shot [power]. It is an accumulation. David has some punch, but I don’t see a one-punch knockout.
“David Morrell can last a little longer. Since he is from Cuba, he knows how to guess. Everyone knows that Cubans are made to hit. If I have to lean on one side, it’s 100% David Benavidez because of his resume. We haven’t seen Morrell tested. We have seen David tested on more than one occasion.
“We haven’t seen Morrell tested in a big old fight, the size of this one. This fight, everyone will want to see this fight. It depends on how Morrell fights,” Dirrell said when asked if Morrell could go the 12-round distance with Benavidez.
Past-Their-Prime Bags
We haven’t seen Benavidez tested in a big fight either. It’s not just Morrell. Dirrell was in his mid-30s when he fought Benavidez, and he was the best. Also, he was much smaller, going up against the lightweight Mexican heavyweight monster.
Morrell fought better guys in the amateur ranks than Benavidez did as a pro. It’s not even close. Morrell has the experience advantage over quality opposition. The best fighters Benavidez fought were mostly older, over the hill fighters like these guys:
– Demetrius Andrade: 36
– Oleksandar Gvozdik: 37
– David Lemieux: 35
– Wanderer Alexis Angulo: 40
Caleb Plant was not old when he fought Benavidez in 2023, but Canelo Alvarez had already knocked him out in 2021. He had no strength. That’s the only junior world-class fighter that Benavidez has beaten. The rest are old.
“David, the buildup is what’s going to get to him [Morrell]. There is something pop. You will feel every blow. I think Morrell will fight,” Dirrell said.
“Do you think David Morrell can knock out David Benavidez?” Judah said.
“Benavidez can take a hit,” Dirrell said. “We never saw Benavidez injured. I’ve never seen him. He fell, but I think it was a quick knockdown [against Ronald Gavril on September 8, 2017, in their first fight. He was a little too aggressive, but that’s Benavidez.”
If Morrell is forced into a war on the inside, he’s got a chance to knock out Benavidez because he’s a lot stronger and bigger than the guys he’s been fighting at 168. Gvozdyk couldn’t fight on the inside. He mostly lit up Benavidez from the outside after he gassed out in the second half of the fight. Again, Dirrell had Benavidez hurt, and was a lot smaller.
Morrell’s Youthful Advantage
“I think he calmed down a little bit. He’s a good counter-puncher. So, blocking and coming back with his own counter. I think it’ll be a good fight. I think it’ll be a chess match at first. Then it’ll heat up in the middle of the rounds,” said Dirrell.
“I see it going four rounds,” said Judah.
“No, I don’t see Morrell banging it out with him like that,” said Dirrell. “I see him moving, getting his shots in, but be on the move. I think he’s going to mix it up at times because of the blood, but I don’t see a mix-up like that.”
Morrell, 26, is two years younger than Benavidez but is more youthful and has that freshness factor going for him. He hasn’t pounded for 12 years in the pro ranks like Benavidez, and that shows. So, Judah and Dirrell are looking at the experience factor as a positive rather than as a major negative for the Mexican Monster Benavidez. When it’s early in a fighter’s career, experience is important, but not when a guy has been in the game since 2013. Then it’s a negative.
“So, you’re saying that Morrell has to take him into the deeper waters for him to win?” said Judah.
“You have to, but Benavidez gets stronger as it goes, too, though. We got to see what Morrell’s condition is going into the fight,” said Dirrell. “I see David in Vegas right now. If you don’t go to Vegas a few weeks before, it’s over.”
