Rosado: Morrell needs traps to counter Benavidez’s volume

Veteran Gabe Rosado says David Morrell will need to “set traps” to hurt volume puncher David Benavidez in their fight in 48 days on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Rosado does not believe that Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) can match the high performance of Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and could be knocked out by him when buried with volume.

Many fans view Benavidez as someone with too much experience for Morrell, and his bulk makes him a nightmare. However, Cuban Morrell’s power, mobility and boxing skills give him a huge advantage. After a fight at 175, Morrell seems better suited for the division than Benavidez.

Morrell will put his WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight title on the line against WBC interim champion Benavidez in his main card at PBC on main video PPV. The winner of this fight will be able to compete for the undisputed championship at 175.

Rosado’s prediction

“David Morrell against David Benavidez. “I’m for Benavidez, but you can’t sleep with Morrell,” Gabe Rosado told Fight Hub TV about the February 1 fight between these two fighters. “Benavidez didn’t have to accept this fight. Morrell was the one who needed this fight.

“Morrell hit the jackpot. So if he can win this fight, he’ll be there, because no one was really criticizing Morrell. So, that shows what kind of dog Benavidez is. He says, ‘Okay, whatever.’ Let’s execute it.’

“No one acts like that with Benavidez,” Rosado said of Morrell badmouthing Benavidez during their confrontation. “It’s going to be a shootout. Both are going to collide. It’s going to be a question of who can hold up because they’re both going to land shots.

This is a great fight for Morrell to test himself against a guy many fans consider a future star. Benavidez has held back for the past 11 years, choosing to fight at 168 rather than move up to 175, where he has more opportunities for interesting fights. If he had moved up to light heavyweight in 2014, his career would be further along. Benavidez foolishly thought Canelo Alvarez would eventually fight him, and waited for 10 years. What a mistake.

“I think Morrell is the bigger puncher of the two, but Benavidez takes you out with the volume,” Rosado said. “So what’s going to win? Will it be power or volume? “That’s what it will come down to because I don’t think Morrell can match Benavidez’s volume.”

There’s no guessing who the bigger puncher is between Morrell and Benavidez. It’s clearly Morrell. Could Benavidez be a bigger puncher if he didn’t focus on volume punches? Probably, but he prefers to throw punches in groups instead of charging them.

The strategy: traps

“He constantly hits you on top of you. He doesn’t get tired. So Morrell is going to have to set traps to hit the shots in that fight,” Rosado said.

Benavidez does get tired. We saw it in his last fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15. He was tired after six rounds and took many hard blows from Gvozdyk in the second half of the contest.