AL BERNSTEIN has had his say on the upcoming Benavidez vs Morrell fight, with the legendary boxing analyst predicting a tussle for the ages when the two titans square off in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
“I think it’s a really good fight,” Bernstein told BN.
“Both these men could not get Canelo Alvarez in the ring – David Benavidez, especially. We thought that was going to happen on a number of occasions, and then these two men have circled around each other for the last year or two.
“Then, finally, the fight was made, and I think it’s a fight that boxing fans are really interested in. Now they’re fighting at 175lbs, which is also interesting. They both moved into those uncharted territories in their last fight, and I think it’s a fascinating match-up on many levels.”
The meeting of Benavidez and Morrell has been warmly welcomed by boxing fans, with both fighters willing to risk their unbeaten record against each other in a pairing of two of the sport’s most dangerous, all-action fighters.
With great risk comes great reward, however, and Bernstein believes the winner of this weekend’s contest will skyrocket themselves into position as one of the light-heavyweight division’s best.
“At this point, for them to move forward, a fight like this was important. Benavidez, of course, has been at the top of the 168lbs division. Morrell is much less experienced, and this is his coming-out party for sure.
“For Benavidez, it represents another step toward getting the kind of stardom he wants to get. He’s obviously a well-known fighter, and is a star in some ways, but he thinks this fight will lead him to the kind of stardom that he feels he should have and, of course, could lead the winner to fighting the winner of Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev, or a vacant title if one becomes available.
“But this fight is a good fight unto itself. A lot of times in boxing, we always think ‘oh, this leads to the next thing…’ Well, no, this is fight in itself. Along with Canelo, they [Benavidez and Morrell] were the two best 168 pounders, and now I think moving it to 175lbs, you have to say they’re among the top 175 pounders too, even though they’re new to the division.”
Much of the pre-fight discussions have centred around 27-year-old Morrell’s relative lack of professional experience, with the Cuban having only been past four rounds on four occasions in the paid ranks and doing so at a much lower level than he faces on Saturday night.
Benavidez, on the other hand, has navigated several ups and downs in his 11-year career and despite being just one year older than Morrell at 28, is virtually a veteran in the sport when comparing both men’s in-ring achievements.
Will the Phoenix native’s experience be key on the night? Bernstein believes it may well be a significant factor.
“Some people have been downplaying it, [but] I think it is of some importance,” said Bernstein.
“I’ve announced a number of fights of both of these fighters, and I think that Benavidez has been through big moments, he’s been through a trial of fire. He’s faced adversity, some caused by himself, with the drug issue and being overweight. He’s battle-tested in a way that, through no fault of his own, David Morrell isn’t yet.
“Now, that doesn’t mean that Morrell isn’t going to step up to the moment. You know, these days’ 11 fights isn’t like the old days’ 11 fights. Certainly, he [Morrell] fought people in the upper echelon at 168lbs, and while it wasn’t a super deep division, it had some good fighters. It’s gotten deeper actually in the last year or two, but I think that experience differential and the level of competition is a key factor here.”
When asked for his keys to victory for both fighters, Bernstein emphasised the importance of Benavidez’s now-trademark work-rate, while also pointing to the issues Benavidez had early on against Caleb Plant as potential inspiration for Morrell to draw from.
“Well, I think for David Benavidez to be successful, it always has to be the same: get his volume punching going. He’s one of the great combination punchers in all of boxing – he could be the best. If he’s able to get that combination punching going, he’s able to make you not be able to defend it, because it’s such a reign of terror coming at you and you have a hard time defending against him.
“He has to deal with the movement of Morrell and as they get into the later rounds, he’s got to start imposing his will even more. We saw in the Caleb Plant fight, where Plant was able to kind of mute his offense a little for the first part of the fight.
“Not necessarily win all those rounds, but mute the David Benavidez offense. Then he [Benavidez] came back, of course, as he always does. For this fight, though, Benavidez wants to get going with the volume punching early and make it happen.
“For David Morrell, the key decision to make here is ‘do I box a lot?’ Because I think David Benavidez, as people have said, he has a little issue with that, and his footwork is not his strong suit. ‘Do I box a lot and mute my own power a little bit?’ or ‘Do I box just a little and stay in the pocket and try to counter punch him and land my big power punch?’ Morrell has power, there’s no question about that, but Benavidez has a good chin. So I think for Morrell, a mix of the two is probably going to be what he needs.
“If he [Morrell] chooses one over the other, if he decides to mix it up with Benavidez the entire fight and roll the dice, that could have bad implications for him. If he decides to just box, I don’t know if he can get his offense going enough to win – so I think he used to do a mixture of the two.
“He cannot afford to throw wide punches, which he sometimes does, because Benavidez’s punches are straight. Even when he throws his hook, it’s a nice, compact, short hook.”
So, who will emerge victorious on fight night?
“I would lean towards Benavidez to win the fight,” said Bernstein.
“Either by decision or maybe late stoppage, but I think it’s the kind of fight that has ‘Fight of The Year’ written all over it…”
