The talented former Cuban amateur star David Morrell did a wonderful job last Saturday night, pushing David Benavidez to the brink of defeat but coming up short of their light heavyweight battle on the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Although Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) was out-landed by Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) 224 to 165, his punches had rather a lot more power on them and did plenty of damage to the Mexican Monster’s face. He exposed Benavidez on this fight, showing that he was not what people had thought.
Benavidez Re-evaluated
At the top of the fight, Benavidez’s face looked beaten up, making him appear like an older person in his 40s. Although the 27-year-old Morrell and Benavidez were just one yr apart in age, they looked ten years apart. Benavidez’s profession has taken rather a lot out of him.
Benavidez has repeatedly said in interviews that he won’t give Morrell a rematch and can wait for his title shot against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 fight. That’s a sensible move because Morrell would have a great opportunity of beating Benavidez in a second fight.
After this performance, Cuban talent could possibly be avoided due to what he did to Benavidez. Few fighters at 175 will wish to mix it with Morrell now that he showed that Benavidez is nothing special.
What’s Next for Morrell?
- Caleb Plant
- Anthony Yarde
- Willy Hutchinson
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk
‘Sweethands’ Plant could be a wonderful option for Morrell, however it would likely require that he move all the way down to 168 to make the fight occur. Plant probably wouldn’t wish to go as much as 175 to tackle Morrell and get taken apart by his powerful shots.
The punches that Morrell landed on Benavidez to age his face would likely knockout Plant in a single or two rounds. Plant is an excellent boxer, but he got tagged by Morrell eventually and be done for the night. The previous IBF super middleweight champion Plant was hurt multiple times in his last fight by fringe contender Trevor McCumby and was lucky to not be knocked out in that match.
From Morrell’s Corner
“I believed he did great. Experience is what beat him tonight. David Morrell, persons are going to be really him now, saying, ‘Hey, let’s keep away from this guy. He’s only got 12 fights.’ He looked great against Benavidez. He fought a hell of a fight,” said Morrell’s trainer Ronnie Shields to YSM Sports Media following his fighter, David Morrell’s impressive performance against David Benavidez last Saturday night.
“Experience is what beat him, but he’ll be back. This really helps his profession, it really did. The fans got to see what style of guy he really is. He involves fight. That’s who he’s. He’s going to achieve plenty of fans in the game of boxing,” said Shields about Morrell.
