David Morrell’s coach, Ronnie Shields, predicts a knockout win against the favorite, David Benavidez, this Saturday, February 1st.
(Credit: Esther Lin/Premier Boxing Champions)
Morrell’s Raw Power
Shields doesn’t know which round Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) will KO Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs), but he feels it will happen because his power will be too much for him. Benavidez has similar ideas, thinking he will hurt Morrell and score a knockout.
Morrell has always done well against fighters who came to him looking to exchange, and Benavidez is tailor-made for his style.
“I was calm, but I did get a little bit worried about the exchange between Benavidez and Decubas Sr. It wasn’t about Benavidez. It was more about Decubas Sr. I wanted to make sure he was okay,” said David Morrell to Fight Hub TV, discussing the exchange between David Benavidez and his manager, Luis Decubas Sr., during Thursday’s final press conference.
“I don’t care if it’s by decision or knockout. What I care is I’m going to win, and I’m going to be the one coming out on top.”
“He has to do both. You can’t fight Benavidez one way. You got to fight him at his own game, too,” said Morrell’s trainer, Ronnie Shields to Sean Zittel about Morrell needing to fight going backwards and coming forward against Benavidez.
Morrell will have no choice but to brawl and box Benavidez if he wants to win or survive 12 rounds without getting knocked out. Benavidez is a pressure fighter. That’s in his DNA, and he won’t let up even for a second in that fight. We saw that in his last fight against the bigger, stronger Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th last year.
Benavidez constantly pressured the more powerful former WBC light heavyweight champion Gvozdyk and made him move to keep from getting stopped. Gvozdyk lacked the gas tank, youth, or willingness to stand his ground or attack regularly, which allowed Benavidez to win almost every round uncontested.
“Just because he [Morrell] has 11 fights doesn’t mean you don’t have the experience of doing it,” said Shields when asked what happens if Benavidez wants to drag Morrell into deep waters in the later rounds. “This is why we have the gym. This is why we train every single day for this thing.”
Morrell has the experience in the amateurs, but he hasn’t fought anyone in the pros like Benavidez, and will put him under the gun for twelve grueling rounds. One way of dealing with Benavidez’s pressure is to go for a knockout early because he will be there to be hit.
Morrell has shown power to knockout fighters who have never been stopped in their careers. Benavidez hasn’t fought anyone yet with the kind of power that Morrell has, and he might fold once he starts getting hit hard on the head and body.
Although he likes to call himself a “Monster,” he is human, and his resume is thin on talented opposition. Morrell and his manager, Luis Decubas Sr., are right that Benavidez has fought many older, smaller fighters with one foot out the door into retirement. His trainer/dad, Jose Benavidez Sr., has protected him well all these years, matching him selectively to build his 29-0 record.
They had hoped to convince Canelo Alvarez to fight them, but he wasn’t fooled. He saw the fake record and wasn’t fooled. It’s the same bit that Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia did. Fight fluff opposition, build a plastic record, and then angle for a big payday against Canelo. It’s sneaky, but it works.
Morrell by KO, Says Shields
“He’s going to feel the power when he’s close, and he’s going to feel the power when Morrell is at a distance. So, we feel we have the advantage both ways. I really truly believe Morrell is going to knock him out. I don’t know when, and I don’t care when. That’s just my gut feeling that we’re going to knock him out,” said Shields.
Morrell can knock Benavidez out, but he’s going to need to fight more aggressively than he did in his last fight against ‘Hot Rod’ Radivoje Kalajdzic for him to do it. In that fight, Morrell didn’t pressure enough and stay on top of Radivoje to get the knockout. He hurt him several times but didn’t go after him.
