David Morrell: On The Fast Track

By: Andrew Johnson

David Morrell (5-0, 4 KOs) flattened Mario Cázares (12-1, 5 KOs) in entrance of a standing-room-only crowd in his adopted hometown of Minneapolis on Sunday night time. The underdogs had fared properly on the night’s undercard, however Cázares’ hopes of an upset have been erased by two straight left fingers from Morrell. The primary punch landed cleanly, leaving Cázares dazed and defenseless. Morrell then reloaded his left hand and unleashed it on the weakened chin of the beforehand undefeated fighter. Cázares was out earlier than his shoulder blades hit the canvas, giving Morrell the title of WBA “Common” Tremendous Middleweight Champion, in simply his fifth skilled bout.

After the battle, Morrell advised the BoxingInsider, “I used to be nervous to start with, however that is my house. As soon as we began preventing… properly, you noticed what occurred, I knocked him out.”

Morrell now refers to Minneapolis as his house. After 132 novice fights, he left Cuba and traveled to Mexico the place he waited over a 12 months for his immigration papers to be finalized. In the summertime of 2019, Morrell headed north to Minneapolis to coach alongside Jamal “Shango” James (27-1, 12 KOs), present WBA “Common” Welterweight Champion and Minneapolis native. James sat within the entrance row on Sunday cheering on his stablemate’s victory and the arrival of a second championship belt to Circle of Self-discipline Health club situated on the south facet of the town.

Not way back, it was virtually exceptional for an novice fighter to win an expert championship in his fifth battle with out headgear. Although he’s solely 23 years previous, David Morrell was extensively thought of one of many biggest novice fighters within the historical past of Cuban boxing as he compiled a document of 130-2. Morrell’s rise to the highest of the skilled battle recreation comes on the heels of one other legendary novice’s meteoric ascension, former pound-for-pound king Vasyl Lomachenko. Like Morrell, “Loma” fought and gained a whole lot of instances as an novice, then pursued significant fights virtually instantly after turning professional. Lomancheko fought for a title in his second skilled match and has been a really worthwhile boxer for Prime Rank over the previous few years. Morrell is youthful, and arguably a extra thrilling fighter than the Ukrainian technician, so search for the PBC to speculate closely in Morrell’s future.

Who’s subsequent for David Morrell at 168 lbs.? When requested this query within the post-fight press convention, he mentioned “I might like to battle Caleb Plant. He’s quick, however I’m additionally very quick, so it could be a tremendous battle.” Morrell mentioned he’s more likely to battle once more later this 12 months, however “Sweethands” Plant is likely to be busy with Canelo Alvarez in a pay-per-view battle early this fall. Morrell is wildly fashionable in Minnesota, however will possible want a couple of extra victories in entrance of a nationwide viewers earlier than he is ready to safe a battle at that stage.

Morrell’s subsequent opponent will materialize finally. Sunday’s victory was necessary as a result of it offered a chance to place his harmful left hand on full show and fertilize a rising fan base. Whether or not or not his profession mirrors that of Lomachenko stays to be seen, however after arriving in Minneapolis two years in the past, David Morrell has turn out to be one of the compelling younger fighters within the sport.