David Morrell says he should have used his “footwork” and “head movement” more efficiently in his loss to David Benavidez last February at the T-Mobile Arena. The former two-division world champion Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) made the mistake of waiting too long before finally going on the attack against Benavidez in their light heavyweight contest.
When Cuban poured it on late, he dropped Benavidez in the 11th, lighting him up with huge shots in the 12th. As the fight ended, ‘The Mexican Monster’ looked beaten up around the face and depleted from the hard shots that Morrell had hit him with in the final two rounds. By the end of the fight, Benavidez’s facial features resembled a 100-year-old man.
Benavidez: A Costly Lesson
When you look at what Morrell did to Benavidez in just those two rounds and extrapolate that over what he could have done, the fight would have ended quickly if he had fought more aggressively.
The fight was an example of Morrell not knowing his own strength and failing to use his natural power and youth advantage against Benavidez to try to take him out in the first half.
Having learned from that fight, Morrell, 27, will be returning to the ring in an undercard assignment, fighting unbeaten 175-lb contender Imam Khataev (10-0 (9 KOs) on July 12 at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York. Morrell-Khataev will fight on the undercard of the Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz event.
To avoid losing another fight for failing to use his power game, Morrell has to attack Khataev all out, and not mess around and wait too long like he did against Benavidez. Morrell also made the same mistake by fighting passively in his clash against Radivoje Kalajdzic last August on Turki Alalshikh’s card at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
When Morrell attacked Kalajdzic aggressively early on with combinations, he was hurting him and close to being stopped. But then reverted to throwing single shots, dancing around needlessly, allowing Kalajdzic to have moments of success and go the 12-round distance.
Beterbiev Blueprint for Morrell
In hindsight, Morrell should have followed the Artur Beterbiev blueprint by attacking Kalajdzic in an all-out style, throwing nonstop combinations, burying him with pressure, and maintaining a fast pace. That same approach would have worked for Morrell against Benavidez as well. Morrell needs to use the Beterbiev style for ALL of his fights moving forward because that’s one that will work for him at 175 to defeat fighters like Dmitry Bivol, Benavidez, and Artur. Morrell will never beat fighters like Bivol and Benavidez, trying to box like he did last February against ‘The Mexican Monster.’ That’s a waste of time.
However, unlike Morrell’s previous headliner bout against Benavidez, his fight with Khataev will be buried four-deep on the undercard at the rock bottom of the card. That’s got to be a tough pill for Morrell to swallow because if he had fought the right fight against Benavidez by attacking him tooth and nail, Cuban style, he’d likely have knocked him out. He’d then headline his card in a rematch with Benavidez or against one of the top contenders. Life would be different.
Undercard Blues
- Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz: Main event
- Shakur Stevenson vs. William Zepeda: Co-feature
- Alberto Puello vs. Subriel Matias: For Puello’s WBC 140-lb title
- David Morrell vs. Imam Khataev
A Tough Pill to Swallow
“Anytime you suffer a defeat, there is something you look back and think you could have changed,” said David Morrell to BoxingScene, reflecting on his defeat against David Benavidez last February. “I feel I could have used my footwork in a better way, and possibly more head movement.
“I know he brings strong punching power. I’m coming to win and win with authority,” said Morrell about his fight against Imam Khataev on July 12th in their undercard fight in Queens, New York. “I’m hoping to fight at least two more times before the end of the year.”
Last Updated on 05/18/2025
