LOS ANGELES – David Morrell’s first foray as a light heavyweight fighter was a successful one, but it wasn’t the vicious new version he promised.
The Cuban southpaw sensation Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) outlasted former 175-pound title challenger Radivoje Kalajdzic (29-3, 21 KOs) in a competitive 12-round fight to score a unanimous decision win Saturday at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, putting an end to an eight-fight stoppage streak he established as a standout super middleweight.
Judges scored the fight 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111 in favor of Morrell.
It was a competitive matchup that Morrell mostly controlled, albeit doing so with infrequent activity during extended sequences throughout the fight.
Morrell outlanded Kalajdzic 134 to 102, and they were separated by three or fewer landed punches in seven of the rounds.
The stubborn Kalajdzic provided great resistance, going in and out to land his fair share of shots to frustrate the Cuban, who was caught flat-footed several times throughout the fight while eating clean right hands.
“Hot Rod” Kalajdzic built momentum in the second half of the clash, making it closer than the -3000 betting odds in favor of Morrell indicated heading into the fight. But Kalajdzic never came close to upsetting the poised Morrell.
Morrell started the fight off strong and controlled the pace for the first three rounds, but a game Kalajdzic got into the fight beginning in the fourth. The tricky Serbian frustrated Morrell in Rounds 5-7 several times by penetrating Morrell’s guard.
Morrell landed a fight-shifting shot that he was looking for in the eighth round with a right hook and followed it up with a right uppercut, forcing Kalajdzic to stumble across the ring and into the corner. Morrell chased Kalajdzic and unloaded with several hard shots, but his overaggressiveness led to an opening for Kalajdzic, who countered with a hard right.
Morrell started slowly in the ninth round but closed it strong, landing several shots that forced Kalajdzic to backpedal considerably as the bell sounded.
Although Morrell won, he didn’t close the show strongly, as Kalajdzic outlanded Morrell 31-28 in the last three rounds.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
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