Prelims live at 5 PM CT. PPV live at 7 PM CT.
29-0 David Benavidez vs 11-0 David Morrell
25-1-1 Brandon Figueroa vs 22-1 Stephen Fulton
26-3-1 Isaac Cruz vs 23-2-2 Angel Fierro
21-1 Jesus Ramos Jr vs 24-4-2 Jeison Rosario
Prelims
14-0 Mirco Cuello vs 22-1-1 Christian Olivo
6-0 Yoenli Hernandez vs 18-3-1 Angel Ruiz Astorga
Non-TV
28-3-1 Jose Benavidez Jr vs 20-9-4 Danny Rosenberger
11-0 Daniel Blancas vs 11-0-2 Juan Barajas
6-0 Curmel Moton vs 5-1 Frank Saldivar
7-0-1 Kaipo Gallegos vs 24-6-1 Leonardo Padilla
3-0 Gabriela Tellez vs 4-0 Abril Anguiano
7-0 John Easter vs 6-2-1 Joseph Aguilar
Morrell should've stepped up earlier than this. Benavidez had been in there with Dirrell, Plant, Lemieux, Andrade, and Gvozdyk while Morrell's best opponent was... Fox? Falcao? Not even close to the same level.
Hot Rod was his best opponent
robbing morrell of his knockdown is what made the fight appear wide. if the kd holds up, and morrell keeps his momentum from that moment, maybe the 12th is different and only a one 1 win or, if he got another kd, a majority draw. but no way for him to win or get a draw after that. morrell is probably more impressive performance
Morrell won 2-3 rounds max lol...
Morrell should've stepped up earlier than this. Benavidez had been in there with Dirrell, Plant, Lemieux, Andrade, and Gvozdyk while Morrell's best opponent was... Fox? Falcao? Not even close to the same level.
Morrell just didn't throw enough.
Or move enough, but rather stood in front of Benavidez with high guard. How many times did Benavidez use his left to pull down Morrells left glove and then deliver clean right hooks? I lost count.
Benavidez is accurate af, he wasn't just hitting the guard and breaking through, he used unexpected angles.
That is why he is 2nd on compubox for % punches landed in the sport of boxing. He is a sniper.
I have been arguing with Morrell fans here for a while , but I have to say he is a legit beast and put on a great performance. When most fighters are fighting cab drivers he gave a monster a great fight. He will be a great fighter in the future imo. He showed he is tough as nails, power, skill. I had it roughly 8-4 , and he legit rocked Benavidez twice. Great fight.
Congrats Oracle your guy won tonight
And I must add your stand up guy for saying the way it was ; Morrell actually rocked Benny twice
Nice to hear that from a hardcore Benny fan
Kudos
I have been arguing with Morrell fans here for a while , but I have to say he is a legit beast and put on a great performance. When most fighters are fighting cab drivers he gave a monster a great fight. He will be a great fighter in the future imo. He showed he is tough as nails, power, skill. I had it roughly 8-4 , and he legit rocked Benavidez twice. Great fight.
robbing morrell of his knockdown is what made the fight appear wide. if the kd holds up, and morrell keeps his momentum from that moment, maybe the 12th is different and only a one 1 win or, if he got another kd, a majority draw. but no way for him to win or get a draw after that. morrell is probably more impressive performance
I figured Morrel would be able to avoid getting hit so much. He's not as crafty as I thought he would be. He's big and strong and has some very good qualities but currently he's got a lot of flaws. Hot Rod gave him a hard fight but didn't kick the crap out of him like Benevides just did tonight.
I think fans hear "Cuban" and expect a technician or slickster, but Morrell's an athletic slugger. Maybe he'll evolve as he gains more experience, but I think he should switch trainers. Maybe he should give Bozy Ennis a try.
Hot Rod had respect for Morrell's power, but he was also landing flush on Morrell. Hot Rod just doesn't have Benavidez's chin or output, so he wasn't able to take advantage of Morrell's deficiencies as much.
Did you watch Morrell's last performance? It wasn't too dissimilar from what we saw tonight. He just got hit much more because Benavidez was more aggressive than Hot Rod.
I figured Morrel would be able to avoid getting hit so much. He's not as crafty as I thought he would be. He's big and strong and has some very good qualities but currently he's got a lot of flaws. Hot Rod gave him a hard fight but didn't kick the crap out of him like Benevides just did tonight.
Benavidez vs. Bivol/Beterbiev will be very interesting. Bivol moves better than anyone he's fought, and he wont let him set up. David loves sitting on his shots.. Bivol will disrupt that rhythm and move whole fight. Would be interesting.
Against Beterbiev, we may see Benavidez moving backwards.. which rarely happens. He wont be able to sit on the ropes against Artur like he just did, his guard will get smashed. Can't wait for either fight, definitely a dare to be great moment.
Bivol has the better footwork but Benavidez is super accurate, he has this ability to follow the target and keep landing no matter how much his opponent moves.
Morrell was anywhere near ready for Benavidez. He hasn't fought anyone close to Benavidez's level and it showed. Morrell was hurt a few times, Benavidez made easy work of his defense. Morrell flurries mostly landed on arms and gloves while Benavidez was smacking Morrell around and making him miss.
That knockdown was goofy and then Morrell throws it away hitting after the bell.
Morrell is a good fighter but he just isn't at that level yet.
Beterbiev, as long as he doesn't age overnight, KO's both of them. Bivol beats Morrell, I'd be interested to see Bivol Benavidez. Benavidez has a great chin and he is a sneaky good boxer with thudding power.
Damn, that was a beating that Morrel endured. I'm a bit surprised that Morrel's boxing IQ was MUCH lower than Benevides'.
This fight wasn't even close. Morrel has a lot to learn. He's a huge Light Heavyweight and he's durable BUT damn he got SCHOOLED!
Did you watch Morrell's last performance? It wasn't too dissimilar from what we saw tonight. He just got hit much more because Benavidez was more aggressive than Hot Rod.
Benavidez vs. Bivol/Beterbiev will be very interesting. Bivol moves better than anyone he's fought, and he wont let him set up. David loves sitting on his shots.. Bivol will disrupt that rhythm and move whole fight. Would be interesting.
Against Beterbiev, we may see Benavidez moving backwards.. which rarely happens. He wont be able to sit on the ropes against Artur like he just did, his guard will get smashed. Can't wait for either fight, definitely a dare to be great moment.
Good fight, fun, congrats to Benavidez he fought well.
Disappointed with Morrell he gave it a go, had his moments and showed a lot of toughness but he's one-dimensional, terrible defence and had an even worse gameplan.
Every time he had success he'd stand static right in front of Benavidez with a high guard leaving his body open and letting him take his turn.
Not sure what you do with him he is well above Buatsi and Smith etc but will never beat Beterbiev, Bivol or Benavidez
Damn, that was a beating that Morrel endured. I'm a bit surprised that Morrel's boxing IQ was MUCH lower than Benevides'.
This fight wasn't even close. Morrel has a lot to learn. He's a huge Light Heavyweight and he's durable BUT damn he got SCHOOLED!
benavidez beat him bad, morrell's team looks wierdly happy for simply going the distance
Morrell has never absorbed this much punishment before. A team never truly knows what their fighter is made of, until they are thrown into the deep end.