Benavidez’s long arm pose challenge for Morrell, says Andrade

Demetrius Andrade wonders if WBA light heavyweight champion David Morrell has long enough arms to get around David Benavidez’s guard when they meet Feb. 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Benavidez’s reach

Andrade had trouble landing his shots through Benavidez’s guard due to his long arms in last year’s fight and ultimately 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 shouldn’t 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 give Andrade problems. He looked much heavier, like a light heavyweight or a lightweight fighting a middleweight.

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

“After that fight [Benavidez vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk at 175]he said, “I can still do 168,” because he felt the weight difference. Him [Benavidez] he couldn’t do what he can do when he’s not the weight bully.

“Now he’s in a good match against David Morrell. They are two boys of the same size. I think David Morrell is talented. I don’t know if he has the experience to actually beat David. [Morrell] he’s a big boy. He has decent speed, but is a little wild with his punches. This obviously comes with experience.

Benavidez didn’t make a great showing in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk last summer on June 15 and was outmatched the entire fight by the stronger fighter. His power seemed weak compared to the weight, and he was lucky to make the decision. If Gvozdyk had been a more popular fighter, he would have been given the win because he landed the better shots.

Can Morrell adapt?

“David [Benavidez] he has long arms. Morrell is bigger than me,” Andrade said. “When you’re throwing punches at him [Benavidez]his arms are so long that it is difficult to hit him. You have to aim your shots at him. I don’t know if Morrell has that in him.

“I’m a sharpshooter and David was able, with his length, to block many of my shots. So, you have to set him up with some clean, walking trap shots,” Andrade said