David Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) says he feels that he made the mistake of starting his surge too late in the fight by waiting until the last three rounds to attack David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) relentlessly on Saturday night in their headliner in Las Vegas.
(Credit: Esther Lin & Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Late Surge
Trailing badly on the judges’ scorecards, Morrell fought like a man possessed from the tenth round, out-slugging the exhausted ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez at the T-Mobile Arena.
Morrell knocked Benavidez down in the 11th and had him eating shots in the 12th. Morrell got a little too amped up at the end of the 11th when he hit Benavidez after the bell had sounded, but he wanted to finish him.
Benavidez looked pretty beaten up around the face, and he had nothing on his shots. He was punching like a middleweight, and it’s clear that he’s not transitioned well to the 175-lb division. He’s forced to win his fights by volume, and that’s a hard way to do it in this weight class because he’s going take punishment like he did tonight.
The way Benavidez looked tonight, he won’t beat undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev if that’s who he faces next. Beterbiev hits too hard, and will counter him on the inside.
Morrell’s Regret
“We prepared well, but it didn’t go as expected. The only thing is to learn from it, move on, and be better next time,” said David Morrell to the media at the post-fight press conference following his loss to David Benavidez on Saturday night.
“It was one of my mistakes where maybe I got going a little bit too late. I got going in the last three rounds. Maybe I should have done that earlier,” said Morrell about the mistakes he made in the fight.
“It was something that definitely played a role in the outcome of the fight,” said Morrell when asked if his lack of experience hurt him in this match against Benavidez.
“I will say that did play a role in the fight, but I’m proud of my guy. That was his 12th fight. This is something we take away from, and next time, we’ll keep moving on,” said trainer Ronnie Shields about his fighter, Morrell.
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