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Welterweight contender Radivoje Kalajdzic says the key to David Morrell’s victory over David Benavidez is staying “composed” for the first six to eight rounds of their 175-man bout this Saturday, February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
This Saturday, Benavidez vs. Morel will be shown live on PBC on Prime Video PPV. Morelo’s ‘regular’ WBA welterweight title will be on the line, and Benavidez will hold his interim WBC 175lb belt. The World Boxing Council has already determined that the winner of Benavidez-Morel will be mandatory for Artur Beterbiev’s belt.
Radivoje fought Morel (11-0, 9 KOs) on August 3rd in Los Angeles last year and knows what he can do against Benavidez. He notes that Benavidez fought “smaller guys” his entire career, campaigning at 168, not 175. That’s why ‘Mexican Monster’ Benavidez was labeled as ‘weight bully’ like other fighters of his ilk, he did well. However, when Benavidez finally moved up to 175, he looked average.
When Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) moved up against 37-year-old former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk last June 15, he didn’t hit him hard because the former champion didn’t land enough punches. . He pushed them.
On Saturday, it will be the first time in Benavidez’s 12-year career that he will face a guy his size who will hit him hard. Radivoja is interested in how Benavidez handles Morel’s size and power.
Serbian-born Radivojoe (29-3, 21 KOs) punches harder than Benavidez, and Morel put his power to good use in the 12-round victory.
Morrell’s strategy
“If he can stay composed and calm for the first six to eight rounds, because Benavidez, all he has and all he does is pressure.” Eventually it will slow down. So, be composed, choose your shots and move because he knows how to box,” Radivoje Kalajdzic said. ISM Sports Media on how David Morell can beat David Benavidez this Saturday night February 1st.
“Don’t be an aggressor. I think he can pull it off, but it’s going to be a close fight overall,” Radivoje continued about the Benavides vs. Morel contest.
“David Benavidez has fought smaller guys his whole career. He was always the bigger guy, so when he fought (Olexander) Gvozdik, Gvozdik didn’t even hit that hard. So, I don’t know. This will be the first test. We’ll see if Benavidez gets hurt or if he’ll just follow Morel?” Radivoje said.
Benavides will try to follow Morel because that’s how he always fought and the style that his father, Jose Benavides Jr. teaches; however, as we saw last Saturday night with Jose Jr.’s fighter, Omar Salcid, in his one-sided loss to the Cuban Andy Cruzthat high pressure style doesn’t work against talented fighters.
Benavidez will get hit a lot by Morrell, and could take a boxing lesson from him in this contest. The way he fights Benavidez is exactly how Cruz beat Salcido: punch, kick, move and attack.
Cruz waited until the second half to start pressing Salcido, and it was one-sided. Cuban Morrell can do the same thing because Benavidez is even more sloppy and harmless than Salcido. Benavidez makes him look like a master boxer in comparison.
Untested Waters
“This will be a big test for both of them.” I don’t know. we will see. I don’t know how he (Benavidez) reacts to guys his size fighting back. Well, we’ll see,” Radivoje said of how boxing fans will see how Benavidez reacts to a fight with the equally big Morel.
This will be an interesting test to see how well Benavidez can hold up against his first big shot of his 12-year career. As Radivoje pointed out, Oleksandar Gvozdik did not hit that hard. He mostly pushed his shots, looking like he was trying to conserve energy to prevent gas.
When Gvozdik started to step up his punches late in the fight, he gave Benavidez a lot of trouble and took control of the later rounds. By then it was too much for Gvozdik, and he couldn’t pull out the win because he gave up too many rounds throwing at partial power.
In the 12th, Gvozdik hurt Benavidez with a right to the body with a throw straight down the barrel. That shot knocked the wind out of Benavidez, as he didn’t land a single punch for the remainder of the round after hitting the breadbasket.
