David Morrell vs Sena Agbeko ~ Farewell Showtime

[TitoFan]

Nothing but respect Morrell wanting 100 percent focus on Benavidez! Not like some undisputed champ is. 2024 has so much potential to be more massive.

Salute Jim Grey, probably most I've agreed with him in that close out piece. Very solid stuff.

Yep.

[Master]

David Morrell Jr’s trainer Ronnie Shields, would like him to fight Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight champion if he can’t get the David Benavidez match-up.

Shields feels that Morrell has earned his shots at a fight with Canelo by fulfilling two or three mandatories. Although he only has ten fights on his resume, the former Cuban amateur star Morrell has won in a way that has shown that he’s an exceptional talent. Morrell’s manager had hoped that Benavidez would face him on November 25th but chose Demetrius Andrade rather than facing him.

He feels that Benavidez lost his courage after watching Morrell demolish Yamaguchi Falcão. The energy that Morrell has put into fighting Benavidez has been wasted, and his trainer Shields views Canelo as the more appealing fight for next May. Canelo needs an opponent, and Morrell would be perfect.

Morrell hasn’t talked about wanting to fight Canelo. In the last year, the Cuban talent’s entire focus has been trying to lure Benavidez into the ring, as he wants to put the braggart in his place.

He’s had zero luck, however. Last Saturday night, Morrell showcased his talent, stopping Sena Agbeko (28-3, 22 KOs) in the second round of Showtime’s final broadcast for boxing after 37 years. Agbeko gave it his best shot but was little more than a speed bump for the 25-year-old Morrell.

“I know my guy. I know big and strong he is, and I know how hard he hits,” said trainer Ronnie Shields to Fighthype when asked if he was surprised at how easy WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr’s victory was over Sena Agbeko last Saturday night in Minneapolis.

“I figured if we could jump on him early and get three or four punches off on him, I figured we’d get a stoppage. I wanted him to have a great first round, but he didn’t, and I had to jump on him a little bit about that because that’s what we trained for,” Shields continued about his fighter, Morrell.

“He did it in the second round. He did in the second round what he was supposed to do in the first round. I didn’t like that people were hollering at him, and he was looking at the audience,” said Shields on what he didn’t like from Morrell in the first round.

“That’s a no-no. You don’t do that, but it was people that he respects that he was turning and listening to. I had to stop him right away. ‘Listen, man. You have to focus on what you’re doing.’ In this game, you can’t take chances.”

“Sena can punch, and he’s got the knockouts to prove it,” said Shields. “So, I didn’t want my guy to get caught with something. My guy has got good defense and all of that, but I wanted him to be focused and prove that he’s the best fighter.

“I want whatever he wants,” said Shields when asked if he wants David Benavidez next for Morrell. “As a trainer, my job, despite who he fights, I have to get him ready for whatever it is. I never get involved in who the fighter is going to fight next. That’s not my job. Other people have that job, not me.”

“My job is to prepare him for whoever they put in the ring with him. Not just Benavidez. What about Canelo? Canelo is there. David Morrell has done two or three mandatories for Canelo. Come on, man. When is he going to get his opportunity?” said Shields about his interest in Morrell fighting the ‘Face of Boxing,’ superstar Canelo, rather than Benavidez, who doesn’t seem to want to fight him.

“I don’t know. Styles make fights. Canelo has that style that is really difficult to penetrate sometimes, but Benavidez is a busy guy, and so is David [Morrell]. I don’t know. I really truly don’t know which fight would be the tougher fight,” said Shields on which of the two, Canelo or Benavidez, would be the harder fight for Morrell.

“Truthfully, both guys [Benavidez and Morrell] deserve to get all the hype, they really and truly do, because they’re making noise at 168 lbs. It’s a shame that neither one of them is a super champion. It’s a shame that neither one of them has gotten an opportunity to be a super champion.

“What David Benavidez did because he was WBC champion twice, but he lost because of certain things. I feel my guy [Morrell] can beat anybody in the world, anybody, no matter who it is, and everybody else feels the same way about their guy, but how you prove it in the ring,” said Shields.

https://www.boxingnews24.com/2023/12...ter-agbeko-ko/

[Big J]

Morrell is a serious threat to anyone at 168