Rosado: Morrell Needs Traps To Counter Benavidez’s Volume

Veteran Gabe Rosado says David Morrell will need to “set traps” for him to hurt the volume puncher David Benavidez in their fight in 48 days on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Rosado doesn’t think Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) can match the high output of Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) and could get knocked out by him by getting buried with volume.

Many fans see Benavidez as too experienced for Morrell, and his volume makes him a nightmare. However, the Cuban Morrell’s power, mobility, and boxing skills give him a huge edge. After one fight at 175, Morrell looks more suited to the division than Benavidez.

Morrell will be putting his WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight title on the line against WBC interim champion Benavidez in their headliner on PBC on Prime Video PPV. The winner of this fight will be able to challenge for the undisputed championship at 175.

Rosado’s Prediction

“David Morrell vs. David Benavidez. I favor Benavidez, but you can’t sleep on Morrell,” said Gabe Rosado to Fight Hub TV about the February 1st match between these two fighters. “Benavidez didn’t have to take this fight. Morrell was the one that needed this fight.

“Morrell kind of hit the jackpot. So, if he can win this fight, he’s there, because nobody was really calling Morrell out. So, that kind of shows what kind of dog Benavidez is. He’s like, ‘Okay, whatever. Let’s run it.’

“Nobody acts like that with Benavidez,” said Rosado about Morrell trash-talking Benavidez during their face-off. “It’s going to be a firefight. They’re both going to clash. It’s going to be a matter of who can take it because they’re both going to land shots.

This is a great fight for Morrell to prove himself against a guy that many fans feel is a future star. Benavidez has held himself back for the last 11 years, choosing to fight at 168 rather than moving 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 he waited around for 10 years. What a mistake.

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

There’s no guessing about who the bigger puncher is between Morrell and Benavidez. It’s clearly Morrell. Could Benavidez be a bigger puncher if he wasn’t focusing on volume punching? Probably, but he prefers to throw punches in bunches rather than loading up.

The Strategy: Traps

“He’s punching constantly on top of you. He don’t get tired. So, Morrell is going to have to set traps to land shots in that fight,” said Rosado.

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