Demetrius Andrade questions whether WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight champion David Morrell has long enough arms to get around the guard of David Benavidez when they meet on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Benavidez’s Reach
Andrade had problems landing his shots through Benavidez’s guard due to his long arms in their fight last year and eventually stopped in the sixth round. He was surprised by Benavidez’s huge size, and he was too big for him.
The Cuban Morrell has a much longer reach than Benavidez, by 78″ compared to his 74,” so he shouldn’t have the same issues that Andrade did. Demetrius started his pro career at 154 and moved up to 168 in 2023. He’d 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 a lot heavier, like a light heavyweight or cruiserweight fighting a middleweight.
“Because he was a big, strong guy, he was able to absorb it. He weighed a lot heavier than me,” said Demetrius Andrade to Fight Hub TV about his loss to David Benavidez on November 25, 2023.
“After that fight [Benavidez vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk at 175], he said, ‘I can still make 168,’ because he felt the weight difference. He [Benavidez] couldn’t do what he can do when he’s not the weight bully.
“Now, he’s in a good matchup against David Morrell. It’s two guys the same size. I think David Morrell is talented. I don’t know if he has the experience to actually beat David. [Morrell] is a big kid. He has decent speed, but he’s a little wild with his punches. That comes with experience, of course.”
Benavidez did not look good in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk last summer on June 15th and was out-punched the entire fight by the stronger fighter. His power looked weak at the weight, and he was lucky to get the decision. If Gvozdyk had been a more popular fighter, he’d have been given the win because he landed the better shots.
Can Morrell Adapt?
“David [Benavidez] has long arms. Morrell is bigger than me,” said Andrade. “When you’re throwing punches at him [Benavidez], his arms are so long that it’s tough to hit him. You have to pinpoint your shots against him. I don’t know if Morrell has that in him.
“I’m a sharpshooter, and David was able, with his length, to block a lot of the shots from me. So, you’ve got to set him up with some clean, walking trap shots,” said Andrade
2024-12-29 23:04:42
