Benavidez’s long arms pose a challenge for Morrell, says Andrade

Demetrius Andrade questions whether WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell has arms long enough to get around David Benavidez’s guard when they meet on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Benavidez’s reach

Andrade had trouble landing his punches through Benavidez’s guard due to his long arms in their fight last year and finally stopped in the sixth round. He was surprised by Benavidez’s enormous size, and it was too big for him.

The Cuban Morrell has a much longer reach than Benavidez, 78” compared to his 74”, so he should not have the same problems as Andrade. Demetrius began his pro career at 154 and moved up to 168 in 2023. He had only fought once in the weight class against Demond Nicholson before facing Benavidez.

Benavidez’s reach, weight and youth seemed to cause problems for Andrade. He looked much heavier, like a light heavyweight or a cruiserweight fighting a middleweight.

“Because he was a big, strong guy, he was able to absorb it. “He weighed a lot more than me,” Demetrius Andrade told Fight Hub TV regarding his loss to David Benavidez on November 25, 2023.

“After that fight (Benavidez vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk at 175), he said, ‘I can still make it to 168,’ because he felt the weight difference. He (Benavidez) couldn’t do what he can do when he’s not the weight bully.

“Now he is in a good matchup against David Morrell. They are two types of the same size. I think David Morrell is talented. I don’t know if he has the experience to beat David. (Morrell) is a big kid. He has decent speed, but is a little wild with his punches. That, of course, comes with experience.”

Benavidez didn’t look good in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk last summer on June 15 and was out-punched the entire fight by the stronger fighter. His power seemed weak from the weight and he was lucky to make the decision. If Gvozdyk had been a more popular fighter, he would have been given the victory because he landed the best punches.

Can Morrell adapt?

“David (Benavidez) has long arms. “Morrell is bigger than me,” Andrade said. “When he throws punches (at Benavidez), his arms are so long that it’s hard to hit him. You have to precise your shots against him. I don’t know if Morrell has that in him.

“I’m a sniper and David was able, with his length, to block a lot of my shots. So, you have to set it up with some clean shots and trick shots,” Andrade said.