Benavidez vs. Morrell: A ‘Dark Club’ in the Making?

Trainer Greg Hackett says David Benavidez will use his experience and body shots to defeat David Morrell on February 1st. Hackett sees this as a competitive fight for the first five rounds, with Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) looking good, but Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) will take the fight and knock him out.

Hackett shares the opinion of many people that Benavidez has too much experience in the pros for the 26-year-old Morrell to handle.

Although Morrell had fought many times in amateur competition against better fighters than Benavidez had faced in the pros, he had no experience fighting longer fights. Only three of Morrell’s fights have reached the 12th round in his five-year career.

Benavidez-Morrell will meet in 38 days at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event will be shown live on PBC on Prime Video PPV. Morrell will defend his WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight title in his second contest at 175. Benavidez will have his WBC interim belt on the line.

Benavidez’s aggressive style

“He tried to hit him with a belt. That was crazy,” Greg Hackett said YSM Sports media about how David Morrell tried to hit David Benavidez with his WBA belt after the latter pushed him in their press training session.

“They know they are a threat to each other and a lot is based on that. Both have something to prove as they are in a new weight category. Some people like Morrell and some people like Benavidez. You always know this is a high-intensity fight because your coaches have come to camp.

“You’re looking for real fire. Watch Morrell try all his tricks and watch Benavidez dig deep and go to that body and really try to space him out. I think it’s a little too early for Morrell. I pick Benavidez all day. I think he’s the more experienced, meaner and more tested fighter,” Hackett said.

It won’t be easy for Benavidez to target Morrell’s body as he moves and has a vicious left hand, making him a risk for the Mexican Monster. He’ll try to go to the body, but he might regret it later if Morrell takes him out.

The coach predicts a ‘dark beating’

“Morrell will look good in the top five. Maybe top three before I see him change, but I say top five, he (Morrell) is going to look good. Then Benavidez will start to look more and more, look scary. It will start to get dark. It’s going to be one of those dark beatings,” Hackett said.

Morrell came out on top in the early rounds of his August 3 fight against ‘Hot Rod’ Radivoj Kalajdzic, but seemed to slow down in the second half. However, Morrell continued to throw with power even in the championship rounds. Kalajdžić held his own, which saved him from many heavy blows in the sequel.

Benavidez does not hold, and defense is his offense. Morrell can do a lot of damage against that type of fighter, and could even knock him out if Benavidez is careless.