David Morel has ruled out any chance of knocking out WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez in their fight on February 1.
(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Heaphy/Premier Boxing Champions)
Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) says Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) doesn’t have the power at 175 to do anything with him in their matchup, and that’s what his 12-round bout will look like. I will be knocked out. Main event fight on PBC on Prime Video PPV. Muriel has great strength, speed, movement, skill and youth advantage.
Although Benavidez is only a year older at 27, he looks to be in his early 30s. It could be because of all those tough fights with fighters like Gennady Golovkin. Thus one’s age will increase by being hit by one.
Volume punching will be dangerous for Benavidez.
Benavidez was never a big puncher when he fought at 168, and the majority of his knockouts came from the accumulation of shots against much smaller, lesser opposition. therefore, ‘Weight Bully’ A label given to Joe Benavidez by some die-hard boxing fans, who noted that he was too big for the super middleweight division after rehydrating.
If Benavidez is going to try to overwhelm Morel with volume, it will put him in danger of being knocked out as he is viewed as the top puncher in the 175-lb division. Morel has better power than Arturo Beterbeef, and will hurt Benavidez if he tries to throw too many shots. This style only worked at 168, but it is not suitable for the 175-lb division. If Benavidez keeps fighting like this, he could be eating his foot through a straw for the rest of his days.
Benavidez’s first fight at 175 was last summer on June 15 against former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Govzdik. He showed no strength and was weak compared to his opponent.
The fight was a nightmare for Benavidez, as he received a lot of punishment and was lucky the match was held in Nevada as it was a draw. The judges gave Benavidez the win, but it didn’t look like he had won.
Benavidez’s lack of power meant he would have to rely 100% on volume punching at 175 lbs. To win a fight, not on his size and certainly not on his punching power.
Morel: Benavidez is nervous.
David Benavidez:All you were saying was *** I’ll break your jaw. Dude you’re stupid *** why are you getting excited? Now, he’s going to take to Instagram. Look at this man. He’s nervous, man,” Benavidez said during Tuesday’s kickoff press conference.
David Morrell: “You don’t have the power at 175. The power to break my mouth? Hell, no. Hell, no. You don’t have the power. Shut up, what do you mean?”
Morel is right about Benavidez not having jaw-breaking power, but he’s still going with the same mentality he was fighting at 168. Use his size to overwhelm them. In 175 things are different. He is just one of the regular contenders. It’s the WBC interim title and it means nothing. That certainly doesn’t translate to Benavidez being at the level of the top fighters.
“It’s simple. She’s nervous. What does a cat do when it’s threatened? It pulls out its claws, and that’s what it did. It feels threatened. It’s scared,” Muriel told the media. Benavidez said of the threats during his press conference today.
“I have everything for David Benavidez. I have the moves, the dancing. I’m fast and I have power. A lot of guys who fight Benavidez are three or two or one. I have everything. [beat] Benavidez. I got everything. I got legs. I can do it,” Muriel said.
