David Morrell Jr. is poised to show why David Benavidez swerved him on August 3rd when he faces Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs) for the vacant WBA World light heavyweight title in Los Angeles.
Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) is moving up to 175 from 168 to expand his opportunities after being shut out at super middleweight despite holding the WBA ‘regular’ belt in that weight class.
With an impressive 130-5 amateur record in his native Cuba, the 26-year-old Morrell wants to beat David Benavidez to the punch by facing the winner of the October 12th fight between light heavyweight champions Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed championship.
Morrell deserves that shot more than Benavidez because he’ll hold a real title if he captures the WBA World 175-lb belt, and he’s not trying to keep his toe in the water at 168 the way he is by holding down simultaneous mandatory spots in two weight classes. 175 is Morrell Jr’s new home, and he wants the Bivol-Beterbiev winner.
Kalajdzic, 32, is ranked #4 WBA and is coming off a tenth-round knockout win over 42-year-old Cuban Sullivan Barrera last March. Morrell can avenge his fellow countrymen Barrera’s defeat by impressively beating Kalajdzic while picking up the WBA belt.
Morrell is arguably the only one who has any chance of beating Bivol or Beterbiev now, as his skills and power give him a real shot. As we saw with Benavidez in his debut at 175 last month against 37-year-old Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th, he’s not cut out for the light heavyweight division. Benavidez is a six-round fighter at 175 and has no power for this weight division.
“David Morrell, I think, is pound-for-pound quality, and I think everybody in boxing knows how good he is,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. “He’s probably vastly avoided, and ‘Hot Rod,’ if you’ve ever seen him fight, he never stops coming to war.”
Morrell will open up a lot of eyes with his performance on August 3rd against ‘Hot Rod’, and he could steal the show from the main event clash between Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov.
“Morrell, moving from 168 to 175, we’ll see how that works out for him. But ‘Hot Rod,’ a good, strong, honest 175 world-class fighter that will test David Morrell,” said Hearn.
When Morrell fought at 168, he looked like he was ready to fight at 175 in his last two contests. His power was enormous and was destroying his opposition too easily.
10-0 Cuban David Morrell makes his Light Heavyweight debut against Hot Rod on August 3! 💥
175lb war in Los Angeles ⚔️ #MorrellKalajdzic #CrawfordMadrimov #RiyadhSeasonCard pic.twitter.com/9IdBzq2T5F
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) July 15, 2024
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