Rosado: Morrell needs traps to counteract Benavidez’s volume

Veteran Gabe Rosado says David Morrell will have to “set some traps” to hurt volume puncher David Benavidez in their fight in 48 days on Feb. 1 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 be knocked out by him being buried by volume.

Many fans see Benavidez as too experienced for Morrell, and his volume 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 to Benavidez’s division.

Morrell will put his WBA light heavyweight title on the line against interim WBC 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 prefer Benavidez, but you can’t sleep on Morrell,” Gabe Rosado told Fight Hub TV regarding the Feb. 1 match between these two fighters. “Benavidez wasn’t supposed to take this fight. Morrell was the one who needed this fight.

“Morrell hit the nail on the head. So if he can win this fight, he’s there, because no one was really calling out Morrell. So, this shows what kind of dog Benavidez is. And he’s like, ‘Okay, whatever. Let’s execute it.’

“No one acts like that with Benavidez,” Rosado said of Morrell badmouthing Benavidez during their confrontation. “It will be a firefight. Both will clash. It will be a question of who can catch it because both will score.

This is a great fight for Morrell to prove himself against a guy who many fans believe is 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 that Canelo Alvarez would eventually fight him, and waited for 10 years. What a mistake.

“I think Morrell is the bigger boxer of the two, but Benavidez makes you come out with volume,” Rosado said. “So, what will win? Will it be the power or will it be the volume? It will come down to this because I don’t think Morrell will be able to match Benavidez’s volume.

There is no guessing who is the greater boxer between Morrell and Benavidez. It’s clearly Morrell. Could Benavidez be a bigger boxer if he didn’t focus on punching volume? Probably, but he prefers to throw punches in bunches rather than charge.

The strategy: traps

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

Benavidez gets tired. We saw this in his last fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th. He was tired after six rounds and took a lot of hard punches from Gvozdyk in the second half of the contest.