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Trainer Stephen Edwards feels that David Morrell does not have the ring IQ to defeat WBC lightweight champion David Benavidez in their fight on February 1.
Stephen thinks that the WBA ‘regular’ 175-lb champion Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) relies too much on his strength and explosiveness and has no bag of tricks to rely on if that doesn’t work.
Edwards says Morrell had some problems in his fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3rd at 175, but he was never in danger of losing. Of course, Morrell dominated all the races, but sometimes he would shoot with Hot Rod, who could punch.
This guy has more power than Benavidez, and Morrell has to be careful at times. Often times, he punched Hot Rod at will and shot hard and hurt him several times.
Stephen went to fight ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) when he defeated his fighter Caleb Plant last year on March 25, 2023, and it didn’t go well. He came out of this fight impressed with Benavidez.
Plant was too weak and small for Benavidez, who looked like a cruiserweight inside the ring during the fight,
Morrell vs. Benavidez will headline on February 1 at PBC Prime Video PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This is Benavidez’s first fight in 11 years as he faces someone in a 50-50 fight that has a gun to beat him.
The closest he came so far to an opponent he had the chance to beat was in his last fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk at 175 on June 15th. Benavidez tired early in the fight and was beaten by Gvozdyk from the 7th to the 12th round.
“This is a fight that David Morrell can win, but I don’t know if he will,” said Stephen Edwards. War about David Benavidez vs. David Morrell fight on February 1. “He had a problem with ‘Hot Rod,’ but he didn’t give up.
“There’s a difference when you’re back in your corner, and you don’t know if you’re up. I have to see how he changes if he’s not winning the fight or if the other guy forces him to doubt.
“I’m impressed with David Morrell, but he relies on his strength, power, and size. He’s too big to fight at 168. He’s a big guy. I’m impressed with him, but a lot of the guys he was fighting were smaller. ‘so much younger than him that he shouldn’t have reached into his pocket of fraud to rely on other things like his IQ.
Like Benavidez, Morrell was the biggest in the 168-lb division, but he’s not fighting at 175. Both fought smaller fighters at super middleweight. Morrell wasn’t the only one who fought the little guys. Benavidez was always bigger than his opponents during the 11 years he fought at 168.
“I’m not saying they don’t have it, but I haven’t seen it yet,” Edwarda said of Morrell’s IQ ring. “I’ll pick David Benavidez. I think his IQ is very low. His defense is low. People say he’s easy to beat, but when you fight like he fights, you’re walking when you go to a guy. Also, he’s a big guy, but he throws a lot of punches.
“He is very good at punching you. He can fight. He is very aware of his safety. He’s not in it to have his head thrown back anywhere. If you see him being beaten, look closely. Even when he gets hit, his hands stay up. Therefore, punches must pass through his gloves. He’s messing up a lot of energy,” Edwards said of Benavidez.
