Coach Kenny Ellis thinks that David Benavidez will “outpace” David Morrell in volume and break him down in the later rounds. Ellis believes Benavidez will get tougher as the rounds go on.
Interim WBC 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 the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ellis predicts that it won’t take Benavidez as long to get Morrell as Caleb Plant because he is a better boxer. Plant looked very small in the ring compared to the much bigger, lighter, heavier Benavidez, and he didn’t have the power to back him up.
Morrell’s power
“As long as Morrell’s belt doesn’t hit Benavidez. Those belts are extremely heavy and can do a lot of damage if they hit you the right way, and that would have set the whole fight back,” said trainer Kenny Ellis speaking to MillCity Boxing, referring to David Morrell dropping the WBA ‘standard’ light heavyweight belt. David Benavidez after being fired by him during a press conference in Miami on December 17th.
“In that fight, David Morrell has found the strength to go out with one punch where he can catch, and he caught Benavidez. I just think the ‘Mexican Monster’ will beat him in everything. You will break him because the Mexican Monster gets stronger as the rounds go on.
“He has a good punch, but I don’t see Morrell knocking him out because he won’t have that space to plan it. He won’t have that rest between punches to set you up, because once the Mexican Monster starts. will keep you uncomfortable. He won’t let you plan anything,” said Ellis.
Benavidez shoved Morrell into the press office, so he threw the belt at him. It wasn’t like Morrell dropped his belt for no reason. He did it because Benavidez pushed him hard when he refused to shake his hand.
Morrell knows how to box, but he will be forced to fight Benavidez because he will be chasing him in the ring. That might work in Morrell’s favor because he likes to move and stop throwing his oncoming opponents. He caught them going forward. If he nails Benavidez with a heavy shot, he might knock him out.
“It’s possible,” Ellis said when asked if Morrell could hit Benavidez so hard that his punches won’t be as high as they usually are because he’ll be afraid of being hit by the Cuban player. “Anything is possible, but I’m rocking the ‘Mexican Monster.’”
It is doubtful that Benavidez will change his usual style of burying his opponents with work if Morrell hits him hard. If he focuses on throwing ‘The Mexican Monster’ in the head, that won’t work because he has excellent punch resistance. However, I had never seen Benavidez get hit so hard by a fighter with so much power.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk had a lot of power, but he didn’t throw hard enough punches. He was pushing his gun hard, trying not to get tired, and focusing on boxing. That style allowed Benavidez to amass a huge lead through eight rounds. It was only a matter of time before Gvozdyk finally got into the championship round, and he needed to be beaten. That’s the only real fighter Benavidez has fought besides David Lemieux, who was old and over the mountain when they fought.
“I like Morrell, though. I think [Caleb] Plant is a better boxer than Morrell. I don’t think it will take long for Benavidez to find him, and support him, and do what he does. At the same time, Morrell has that one punch power that can change things and slow things down. But I rock ‘The Mexican Monster,'” Ellis said.
Caleb Plant tried to fight Benavidez on the inside, and received a lot of punishment in the second half of the fight. At first, Caleb did well, and beat him to the fifth. Morrell won’t fight Benavidez inside, but if he does, he showed in his fight with Hot Rod that he has a lot of power inside.
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