Benavidez Sr.: Son Will 'Drown' Morel

Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. says his son, David Benavidez, will take David Morrell into deep water and drown him in their fight in 29 days on February 1st on PBC on Prime Video PPV in Las Vegas.

Jose Sr. believes Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) can wear down “ordinary” WBA light heavyweight champion Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) with body shots and pressure.

The Benavidez plan

“We don't know. Everyone's style is different,” Jose Benavidez Sr. told YSM Sports Media when asked if David Morrell is a more difficult opponent for David Benavidez than Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade.

“David Morrell is a great fighter, a very successful amateur fighter, a two-time world champion at 168 and 175. He's left-handed. We don't know (if Morel is stronger than Plant and Andrade), but right now we're training as if he's the best fighter in our career. We have to think about it.

“We cannot underestimate David Morrell. We don't know how big his heart is. We'll take him into the deep water and see if he can swim. If not, he will drown. The plan is not just to win the battle. Look spectacular,” Benavidez Sr. said.

Morel is much bigger, stronger and younger than Plant and Andrade. So if Jose Sr. is counting on Benavidez to do the same to him as he did to those fighters, he could be in for a big disappointment on February 1st.

“The thing is with all these fighters moving around. They don't want to be hit. So they are very careful. They use their legs a lot,” Jose Sr. said. “Hopefully David Morrell will come and fight and show people he's the best at 175, and it's going to be a knockout.”

Morel doesn't move much. When he moves, he stands in front of his opponents. He does not move around the ring, but to the side with his upper body. Morel will be there for Benavidez to trade blows.

Morel's punches are far more powerful than the guys the Mexican monster has fought during his career, and they may not last long when he starts getting hit by the Cuban.

Targeting the body

“If he's careful, using his feet and moving around, it's going to take us a little while because when you have a fighter that's moving, it makes it a little difficult for him,” Jose Sr. said. “I'm sure David (Benavidez) is going to take advantage of that and start breaking that body down and start doing damage to it.”

The shots with which Morel struck his last opponent, Radivoje Kalajdzic, on August 3rd wounded or severely injured the knockout Benavidez to the point where he was vulnerable to a follow-up barrage. Morrell hurt Radivoje numerous times in their fight at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

“Hopefully we can get him out of there before the ninth or tenth round,” Benavidez Sr. said.