Diego Pacheco believes WBA regular light heavyweight champion David Morell will be David Benavidez's “toughest opponent” when they meet in the main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on February 1st.

Pacheco, a super middleweight contender who trains with Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs), predicts he will take down Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) and come out on top. He compares Morrell to Caleb Plant, which is an odd comparison, and he sees Benavidez starting slow but then coming on.

Body shot threat

Benvidez is going to be in trouble in this fight if he gets hit by Plant like Morel. Morel's strength is different from Plant's, and he will target her weak midsection to shut him down.

Like all fighters, Benavidez has a weakness, which is taking body shots. Morrell will probably zone out on his chunky Late Elvis Guts A body shot to score the stoppage. That's Benavidez's kryptonite – taking tough shots at his bread basket.

“David Morrell is a man you cannot take lightly. He is there for a reason, and is one of the best Cubans right now,” said Diego Pacheco Sean ZittelSpeaking of David Morrell, who faces WBC Interim Light Heavyweight Champion David Benavidez on February 1st.

“I think David (Benavidez) is a monster. He doesn't let anyone take it from him. When he gets there, he's going in for the kill. Of course, I think Morel is still going to be his toughest opponent, but I still see David coming out on top. He (Morrell) has a good jab, he's a really good fighter and he keeps his distance really well.

“I think he will make it difficult for David in the early rounds. But as we saw with Caleb Plant, he's doing a good job of boxing in the first few rounds when he fights David. But David has a chip on his shoulder where he's coming forward. Even in the clinch, he's still throwing punches.

It doesn't make much sense to use Caleb Plant as a reason why Benavidez should beat Morrell. Plant is a smaller, older fighter with no power and is a completely different fighter than the 27-year-old Morrell. Plant never punched and was knocked out by Canelo Alvarez. His style is different from Morel's.

“I feel like when you're boxing a guy like David, and he's still coming forward no matter what you do, it makes it hard to keep the same game plan and stick to it. When you have a monster like him, throwing big punches, throwing punches in bunches, it's tough,” Pacheco said.

Benavidez's habit of walking forward cost him a lot of headshots in their fight against Oleksandr Govozdyk last year on June 15th. Had Govozdik targeted Benavidez's body instead of his cement head block, he might have scored the stoppage.

He finally hit Benvidez on the 12th. Benavidez's lean midsection and the way he bounces back in a Fury-esque style expose his body. Pachecho enthuses about Benavidez's ability to avoid head blows, as he leans over.

It's true, but she leaves her midsection unprotected, which is where she's weak. He may not be able to handle Morel's punches to the body or head as he has taken more hits than anyone he has faced before and is an excellent counter puncher.

“His defense is crazy. He is standing so straight. He's really good at pulling back on punches. He is getting better in every camp. He's learning,” Pacheco said.

past-his-chief antagonists

Benavidez's defense isn't great. If you watched his last two fights against Oleksandr Govozdyk and Demetrius Andrade, he was just going RoboCop style, blocking shots with his head, outplaying those two older fighters. Gvozdyk 37 and Andrade 36.

Neither one is anywhere near what it was a decade ago. It would be the same thing if Benavidez was on the wrong side of 30, going up against a younger fighter. He won't do well.