David Morrell gave fans a little bit of everything Saturday in his adopted hometown of Minneapolis.
Boxing? The super-middleweight candidate, who had learned to trade in the Cuban amateur system, was far more determined, but beat Aidos Yerbossynuly for most of the match.
Toughness? Yerbossynuly, a tough Kazakh as they come, has maintained tense, oppressive pressure on Morrell right from the opening bell.
Knock down? Oh yes. Morrell appeared to be on his way to a decisive one-way win as he knocked out his opponent twice in the 12th round.order and the last round, the second for good. That has baffled his local supporters and kept him in the title hunt after just eight games.
The end is 26 seconds before the final bell rings.
“I’m so excited, man,” he said. “I told everyone in the press conference that the fight was mine. He’s strong… but that’s me, man. “
Yerbossynuly (16-1, 11 KOs) couldn’t beat Morrell (8-0.7 KOs), even on the inside. The Cuban-born lad kept his footing but was still able to beat the Las Vegas-based slugger better in the first half of the match.
Even so, losers never give up. In fact, he had a good couple of rounds when Morrell slowed down in the middle of the fight and let Yerbossynuly push his back towards the ropes. However, Morrell then switched to boxing mode, fighting with his toes, moving around the ring. And Yerbossynuly couldn’t do anything about it.
Meanwhile, Morrell continued to land hard, the punishments shattering Yerbossynuly’s face and knocking him to the ground. Until the 12thorder round, you’re dead tired. And Morrell knows it.
Yerbossynuly could have gone down a lot from fatigue as Morrell was straight up early in the round. That wasn’t the case with the second takedown, it was brutal. Yerbossynuly was so badly injured that referee Tony Weeks didn’t even bother to count.
Instead, Weeks tried to get the victim to his feet, but he began to collapse. At that moment Morrell stopped his celebration and helped Weeks lead Yerbossynuly to his corner.
Indeed, Morrell also gives fans good sportsmanship, as if it weren’t enough to fall in love with him.
He was nothing short of outstanding on his best night as a pro.
Morrell said entering the fray that he wants to face former two-time champion goalkeeper David Benavidez next. That probably won’t happen; Benavidez appears to be on a collision course with another ex, Caleb Plant.
However, Morrell, who holds the second WBA belt, is not going to be involved in a super fight soon. Performances like the one he was in on Saturday have a way of leading to big things.
“I want Benavidez,” he said, “but I don’t care. I am ready for everyone. “
