Trainer Kenny Ellis thinks David Benavidez will “overwhelm” David Morrell with volume and wear him down in the later rounds. Ellis believes Benavidez will become more powerful as the rounds go on.
WBC Interim Light Heavyweight Champion Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and WBA ‘Regular’ Champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) meet in 15 days at PBC on Prime Video PPV on February 1st at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ellis predicts it won’t take long for Benavidez to understand Morrell like Caleb Plant because he’s the better boxer. Plant looked undersized in the ring compared to the much bigger, lighter, heavyweight Benavidez, and didn’t have the power to make him back down.
Morrell’s power
“Until Morrell’s belt hit Benavidez. Those belts are extremely heavy and can cause a big cut if they hit you right, and that would delay the whole damn fight,” trainer Kenny Ellis told MillCity boxingreferring to David Morrell throwing his WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight belt at David Benavidez after he pushed him during their bout at a media training session in Miami on December 17th.
“In that fight, David Morrell has one-punch knockout power where he can catch and he can catch Benavidez. I just think ‘Mexican Monster’ is going to overwhelm him with everything. He’s going to crush him as the Mexican monster gets stronger and stronger as the rounds go by.
“He’s got a great jab himself, but I can’t see Morrell outboxing him because he won’t have as much room to set it up. He won’t have that pause between punches to set up, because once the Mexican Monster starts. he will make you uncomfortable. They won’t let you set anything up,” Ellis said.
Benavidez pushed Morrell at a media training session, and Morrell threw the belt at him. Morrell didn’t throw away the belt for no reason. He did it because Benavidez pushed him hard when he wouldn’t shake his hand.
Morrell can box, but he will be forced to go to war with Benavidez as he will chase him around the ring. This could work in Morrell’s favor as he likes to move and then stop to land powerful blows on incoming opponents. He catches them as they walk forward. If he hits Benavidez with a hard punch, he could knock him out.
“It’s a possibility,” Ellis said when asked if Morrell could hit Benavidez so hard that his punch volume isn’t as high as it normally is because he’ll be afraid of being hit by the Cuban. “Anything can happen, but I’m rocking with the ‘Mexican Monster.’”
It is suspected that Benavidez will change his usual approach of overwhelming opponents with activity if Morrell hits him hard. If he focuses on throwing the ‘Mexican Monster’ in the head, it won’t work because he has excellent impact resistance. However, I’ve never seen Benavidez get hit often by an elite power fighter.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk had a lot of power, but he didn’t land enough hard punches. He mostly pushed punches, tried not to get tired and focused on boxing. That style allowed Benavidez to build a big lead through eight rounds. It was too late when Gvozdyk finally made it to the championship rounds and he needed a knockout. That’s the only true puncher Benavidez has fought besides David Lemieux, who was old and over the hill when they fought.
“However, I like Morrell. I think [Caleb] Plant is a better boxer than Morrell. I don’t think it will take long for Benavidez to figure him out and support him and do what he does. At the same time, Morrell has one-hit power that can turn things around and slow them down. But I rock with the ‘Mexican Monster,’ Ellis said.
Caleb Plant tried to fight Benavidez on the inside, and took a lot of punishment in the second part of the fight. In the beginning, Caleb was good and got the better of him through the fifth. Morrell won’t fight Benavidez on the inside, but if he does, he showed in the fight against Hot Rod that he has tremendous power on the inside.
