“He Ain’t Messing With Canelo”: Jamel Herring, BJ Flores, and Others React as David Morrell Calls Out Benavidez, Becomes Light Heavyweight Champion in Underwhelming Performance

His fellow division mate jumped over to 175 pounds. So what? He will also follow suit and reshape the light-heavyweight landscape. The plan seemed to work. However, maybe not as well as he and many fans might have hoped. Osvary David Morrell Gutierrez Jr., commonly known as David Morrell, won his debut at 175 pounds. He defeated Radivoje Kalajdzic for the vacant WBA (regular) title. It was a crucial win for him. Otherwise, how else would he claim a stake in the bigger game soon to follow in the division?

The way Morrell won the fight, though, seems to have left a few in the boxing world questioning his title prospects. For a long time, he has cherished a fight with David Benavidez and Canelo Alvarez. With those fights not appearing in sight, he reportedly decided to move on and chase a legacy in the division above. There is a good chance. A few months down the line, the light heavyweight will have its undisputed champion when Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol collide. But given the kind of performance he gave, doubts may have emerged about whether David Morrell is truly ready for the big shot.

David Morrell: Meeting with destiny

Feeling elated after securing his second world championship, David Morrell made it clear what he wanted next. “I want Benavidez,” he said while speaking with Chris Mannix during the post-fight in-ring interview. The Santa Clara-born southpaw won the fight 118-110, 117-111, and 117-111. Thus leaving no doubts in the judges’ minds.

The fight follows his sixth super middle title defense on December 16 last year. In his five-year-old career, the Kalajdzic win marks his second-only decision victory. Many expected him to follow through the bout in his trademark style—an early stoppage. But as it appears, the change in weight might have had its impact on the Cuban native.

Mannix asked, “You’ve knocked out guys at smaller weights with the kind of shots you were throwing tonight; are you surprised he was able to take your power?” But Morrell revealed that the fact didn’t surprise him. After all, a light heavyweight is just seven pounds more than a super middleweight. So he basically knew that boxers in the division are generally strong.

Lingering Questions

But the reactions to his win seem to have come around in a mixed bag. Let’s check out what some of them had to say.

While the fight was still on, Jake Paul‘s former trainer, cruiserweight challenger BJ Flores, felt that Kalajdzic needed to be a bit more aggressive. Perhaps he felt that the Serbian-American boxer needed to increase his intensity and pressure if he wanted to gain an advantage in the fight.

But actress Rosie Perez felt that David Morrell was putting a lot of pressure on Kalajdzic. It seems to have alarmed her, wondering whether it might have made the latter anxious about his ability to tackle the attack.

Former champion Jamel Herring felt that perhaps David Morrell’s performance might not be representative of his true abilities. Nevertheless, he sounded a bit concerned about whether the new light heavyweight champion is capable of taking on the likes of Canelo Alvarez or David Benavidez.

Earlier, world champion Claressa Shields had sought an update on the fight. She had just started watching and wanted to know how well Morrell had been doing thus far.

Coming back later, BJ Flores felt that maybe David Morrell’s trainer, Ronnie Shields, was being too critical of the Cuban American champion’s performance. He acknowledged the kind of challenge Morrell faced in maintaining a high level of performance against a fighter like Radivoje Kalajdzic.

Fans will be eagerly awaiting David Morrell’s next move. Rival David Benavidez, too, won his 175-pound fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk two months ago. Apparently, he is the mandatory challenger to the winner of the Beterbiev-Bivol fight.

Canelo Alvarez, on the other hand, will face Edgar Berlanga in September for a title defense. Talks on and on to bring in a mega fight with Terence Crawford later. So, where does that leave David Morrell? Call out Canelo Alvarez afterwards. Or. wait for David Benavidez’s next fight to get over and then demand a fight. The light heavyweight division is surely in for some exciting times.

Were you able to see David Morrell’s fight? What are your views on his performance?