Can Morel’s body shots stop Benavidez?

Diego Pacheco believes WBA regular light heavyweight champion David Morrell will be a “tough opponent” for David Benavidez when they meet at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on February 1.

Super middleweight contender Pacheco, who trains with Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs), is predicted to wear down Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) and come out on top. He compared Morell to Caleb Plant, an odd comparison, and saw Benavidez start off slow but come on later.

Body shot threat

Benavidez will be in trouble in this fight if he gets hit by Morel like he did by Plant. Morel’s power is different from Plant’s, and he will target his weak midsection to shut him down.Like many other fighters, Benavidez has a weakness in his game, and that is body shots. Morel can get on his nerves. Late Elvis guts Body shots to score a stoppage.

“David Morrell is a man you cannot take lightly. He is there for a reason, and he is one of the best Cubans out there,” said Diego Pacheco. Sean Zittelsaid David Morrell, who will face WBC Interim Light Heavyweight Champion David Benavidez on February 1st.

“I feel like David (Benavidez) is a monster. He will not let anyone take it from him. When he gets in there, he’s going to kill. Of course, I think Morel will be his toughest opponent yet, but I still see David coming out on top. He[Morrell]has a good jab, he’s a very good fighter, and he keeps his distance very well.

“I feel it will be difficult for David in the early rounds. But as we saw with Caleb Plant, he was boxing well in the early rounds against David. But David has a chip on his shoulder going forward. Even in the clutch, it’s still punching.

The reason Benavidez beats Morel is that Caleb’s use of the plant doesn’t make much sense. Plant is a small, great fighter with no power, and he’s a completely different fighter than the 27-year-old Morel. The plant has never been a puncher and was eliminated by Canelo Alvarez. His style is different from Morel’s.

“I feel when you play someone like David, and no matter what you do, he’s still coming forward, it makes it hard to keep that same game plan and stick to it. A monster like him, throwing a big punch, it’s hard to throw a punch,” Pacheco said.

That habit of Benavidez’s stride led him to eat a lot of heads against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in their June 15 fight last year. If Gvozdik targets Benavidez’s body, rather than his concrete head, he can score a stoppage.

He finally hurt him in the 12th when he went to the body of Benavidez. Benavidez’s weak midsection and the way he leans back in a Fury-esque style leave his body wide open. Pachecho spoke about Benavidez’s ability to avoid getting hit in the head.

It is true, but it leaves the middle part, which is one area where it is weak. He may not be able to handle Morel’s punches to the body or head because he hits harder than anyone he’s ever faced and is a very good counter-attacker.

“His defense is crazy. He stands up straight. He is very good at punching back. Every camp, he’s getting better. He’s learning,” Pacheco said.

Former-his-chief opponents

Benavidez’s defense is not good. If you look at his last two fights against Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Demetrius Andrade, he was just walking forward RoboCop style, blocking shots with his head, beating those two veteran fighters. Gvozdic is 37 and Andrade is 36.

No one is anywhere near where they were ten years ago. The same thing would happen if Benavidez was on the wrong side of 30 starting with a smaller fighter. He was not doing well.