With undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez out with an injury and fellow contenders David Benavidez and Caleb Plant fighting each other, WBA “regular” super middleweight champion David Morrell, Jr. isn’t sure what his next move will be following his KO win over mandatory challenger Aidos Yerbossynuly on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
“I don’t think anyone is scared of me, I respect everyone in this division,” said Morrell. “I do know they are aware of me. They know exactly who David Morrell Jr. is and that he’s coming for it all. I want David Benavidez, but I don’t care. I’m ready for everybody.”
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Following the bout, Yerbossynuly was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for evaluation.
The WBA should order Canelo – Morrell as part of their title reduction plan.
But they won’t because if they did the redhead would vacate with a wheelbarrow full of excuses as to why “Morrell doesn’t deserve a title shot.”
They should. Im sure Canelo would be willing to take that fight. People bend over backwards to not give Morrello credit, it will probably take a win over Canelo before they do so. Last night was an interesting fight. You saw how Morrello became a lot less cocky once he started to face a little adversity in rounds 5 and 6. Kinda like when a kid who breezes through life realizes things aren’ always going to go your way. He collected himself, re-adjusted, and took over the rest of the fight.
I agree with you but I don’t think Canelo has a reason to fight him. He’s probably high risk/low reward at this point and they’re going to end up splitting up all of those titles eventually anyway. I’d be shocked if he fought Morrell.
I could see Canelo agreeing to fight Morrell. He’s always up for a new challenge, and might be interested in claiming full WBA supremacy. Believe it or not, that’s meaningful for fighters. With his Showtime debut last night, Morrell has gained a lot more recognition. Perhaps Canelo feels Morrell is still green and won’t be a major threat. They could work the whole Mexican/Cuban angle and fight in september around Mexican independence day
Morell will take Canelo to school. Mark my words!
yee…he is crap. Watching him is like waiting for bacon..tedious. Yeech…Benevedez? Please
This kid is 1 fabulous fighter.NOBODY is going to want to take him on.He is the new Lominchecko,he won a title in his 1st few fights and has power and a high boxing I.Q to boot.This kid is 24 years old, how many guys do you know that has done this in so few time besides Loma and Morrell?
Saensak Muangsurin.
He’s a joke paper champ 8 fights and you actually think he’s ready for canelo lol canelo will knock him out in 4 rounds and benavidez probably would destroy him in round 1. Let’s not get carried away all his fights in Minnesota where he lives and trains easy to build records look at who he’s fought all soup cans and bums. Let’s see him take a step up fight. At this point he needs to get more experience
No matter what, people are are going to discredit Morrell. It’s not his fault the WBA just forked him over the title. I remember after he thoroughly dominated Mike Gravonsky by 3rd round KO in his first “defense” of “the title”, someone on here posted what a travesty it was they sanctioned such an obvious mismatch and who ever approved that match should be fired! Wow! Going into the fight, how are you going to call a 3-0 (Morrells record at the time) fighter going up a 26-3 fighter, ranked #12 in the world (admittedly a dubious ranking) a mismatch? If anything a mismatch favoring Gravonsky! That is the definition of hate and envy right there! Instead of acknowledging what a great performance by Morrell, the guy blasts the commission for sanctioning a mismatch! Until Morrell beats Benevidez, Canelo, or even Plant, people are going to continue to hate on him.
If you look at him as a 24 year old, 8-0 prospect, then Morrell is way ahead of the game. He’s one of the most advanced fighters that we’ve seen at this stage of his career in….. like in ever, really. But if you start looking at him from the standpoint of being a world champion, then his resume is thin and, it’s not his fault, he shouldn’t be fighting the best of any division and he’s like 3-4 years out from his prime.So, while I think it would be cool if Canelo, Benavidez or Charlo would fight him and I think they’d be interesting fights that Morrell would have a legit shot at winning; I don’t blame them for not fighting him. Let him pay his dues and grind out some mandatories and uncomfortable fights outside of Minnesota before he jumps to the head of the line. Maybe Benavidez – Plant winner fights him next year, but I cannot see Canelo fighting him. He literally has no reason to. Even if he beats him, Morrell was this unproven kid who looked dominant against no one in particular.
Talk of fights with Canelo and such maybe a little premature at this point, but why not? I think he can hang and bang with those guys. A fight I would love to see happen is matching him up with Berlanga. Berlanga is in the dog house now and his stock has plummeted, but he still has a lot of appeal. It would be a complete contrast in styles. I’d make sure Berlanga had a snack before the fight because I see Morrell completely outclassing and frustrating him. Berlanga might end up trying to bite his head off.
I think he can hold his own against those guys too Kris. My main point is that I do not think he gets those fights, especially not against Canelo, because those guys have very little reason to fight him.
There’re other guys in that division who he could fight though. You have younger guys like the Canadian based fighters M’billi and Bazinyan. There’s Shishkin and you even have 2 guys who I think would be really interesting, William Scull and Iglesias: Two other Cubans who have world rankings. I don’t think Morrell has much problems with Berlanga at this point and I don’t think Top Rank lets Berlanga fight him anyway.
I really like Christian M’billi. Like Morrell, he’s a hard, volume puncher who comes at you from all directions and angles. He’s more of an inside fighter who likes to crowd his opponents and chop them down. I don’t really see that being effective against Morrell though. I see Morrell using his physicall advantages and out boxing him. That fight would be a real treat for boxing fans. Of course we don’t yet to know the outcome of Yerbosnully’s condition, but you have to wonder how this will affect Morrell in the future. No fighter wants to seriously injure another fighter.
So this guy is a JOKE to you??? Some JOKE,he puts a very tough guy in a COMA,and the guy might very well die, and you call this 24 year old a JOKE???? What does that make you??? Less than a JOKE???
This is directed at Big dog
I think this kid can beat Back 9 Canelo. No joke. Canelo Alvarez is on the back 9. And this kid will knock out Canelo.
This kid can beat Canelo, Benavidez, and Plant right now. I don’t think Morrell could beat either Bivol or Beterbiev. It will take a good 5 years for his to be ready for those fight. I think he should fight Canelo. I think David Morrell Jr. will knock Back 9 Canelo out.
I know plenty about the sport, so I don’t want to hear this “You don’t know Sht about boxing” nonsense.
Morrell will probably have to wait for the dust to settle because I doubt Canelo has any interest (unless forced by the WBA); and Benavidez vs. Plant will have their fight (hopefully). If Benavidez vs. Plant does not occur, then Morrell vs. Benavidez or Plant should happen during early—mid 2023.
During early—mid 2023, if Morrell does not fight Benavidez or Plant, maybe Morrell can look into a couple of “stay busy fights” against lower ranked (but solid) fighters, while building his boxing experience(s).
During late 2023, if Morrell remains unable to fight Benavidez, maybe Morrell and M’billi can discuss a scrap. Canelo will have more big problems if fights a rematch against Bivol (175 or 168). I guess there is a slim chance Canelo will come to his senses and fight Morrell instead of Bivol.
Unfortunately, it does not appear Canelo vs. Benavidez (at 168) will ever happen…dang.
He’s trouble for anybody, but it looked like he was lucky that Yerb didn’t go back to the body shots. He’s sure fun to watch though, reminded me of something in between Ali and Sugar Rey. He’s still got a lot to prove but I think he might have what it takes to do it.
Benavidez in 2!
There are stories circulating online that Yerbossynuly is in a coma right now. Hope it’s not true, but he did look seriously hurt at the end of that fight…
I was worried about that right after the fight. He seemed a little shakey after beating the count, but basically ok, then completely staggered back to his corner with Morrell’s aid. I was thinking he needed to go to the hospital right then and there. Boxing is a brutal, brutal sport. I hope what you read isn’t true, but I fear it is.
I was worried for him when he fell backwards into the ropes after regaining his feet, then being unable to walk to his corner on his own. It’s being mentioned on a few outlets. Dan Rafael’s twitter page I think was the original source…
yeah, I went back and saw it again. I forgot that he fell backwards. That was worse than I thought. I hope he pulls through
I’ve read that too USF. He looked terrible at the end of that fight and almost fell down again and Morrell literally caught him. It looked really, REALLY bad.
Ready for anybody but PBC will keep him fighting obscure contenders since Benevidez and Plant are higher on the food chain
Canelo messed up his muscles by bulking up with heavy weightlifting to fight at a higher weight. This was obvious during the Bivol fight; after throwing a hard combo, Canelo would have to rest, whereas Bivol was fluid throughout.
As some of you already know, this is a RING TRAGEDY.
Aidos Yerbossynuly is in critical condition, and may die. I HATE HATE HATE when this happens. It hurts the sport.
Let’s all pray for him. VERY upsetting.
What a shame, after refusing to lose Aidos is now in critical condition. It’s better to stop a fight 1 punch sooner than 1 punch to late. The ref is a very good one, but with Aidos continuing to stay in the fight this was a tough call for Tony Weeks.I hope and pray this real tough man lives another day
I thought they were doing away with “regular” champions and forcing consolidation? The WBA can’t get out of their own way
Prayers up for Aidos Yerbossynuly . This might ruin Morrell Jr’s killer instinct. This could be the last time we seem him fight with this much aggression.
This Morrell is something very special,I hope he realizes that he just did his job in there, and can go on fighting his fight again.If I had a fighter in his division I’d tell my fighter to get lost in the woods somewhere, because I would not want him ANYWHERE near this incredible young phenom.