David Morrell gave his fans a little bit of everything on Saturday in his adopted hometown of Minneapolis.
Boxing? The super middleweight contender, who learned the trade in the Cuban amateur system, outclassed determined, but overmatched Aidos Yerbossynuly almost the entire fight.
Toughness? Yerbossynuly, a tough-as-they-come Kazakh, maintained intense, stifling pressure on Morrell from the opening bell.
Knockout? Oh yes. Morrell seemed to be on his way to a one-sided decision victory when he put his opponent down twice in the 12th and final round, the second time for good. That sent his local supporters into a tizzy and kept him in the title hunt after only eight fights.
The end came 26 seconds before the final bell.
“I’m so excited, man,” he said. “I told everyone at the press conference that the fight is mine. He’s strong … but it’s me, man.”
The loser never gave up, though. In fact, he had a few good rounds when Morrell slowed down mid-fight and allowed Yerbossynuly to push his back to the ropes. However, Morrell then shifted into a boxing mode, fighting on his toes, moving around the ring. And Yerbossynuly couldn’t do anything about it.
All the while Morrell continued to land hard, punishing blows that busted up Yerbossynuly’s face and broke him down. By the 12th round, he was dead tired. And Morrell knew it.
Yerbossynuly might’ve gone down as much from fatigue as Morrell’s straight left early in the round. That wasn’t the case for the second knockdown, which was brutal. Yerbossynuly was hurt so badly that referee Tony Weeks didn’t bother to count.
Instead, Weeks tried to help the stoppage victim to his feet but he started to collapse. At that moment Morrell stopped his celebration and helped Weeks lead Yerbossynuly to his corner.
Indeed, Morrell also gave his fans good sportsmanship, as if there already wasn’t enough to like about him.
He was nothing short of brilliant on his finest night as a professional.
Morrell said going into the fight that he would like to face former two-time titleholder David Benavidez next. That probably won’t happen; Benavidez seems to be on a collision course with another former beltholder, Caleb Plant.
However, Morrell, who holds a secondary WBA title, isn’t far from taking part in a super fight. Performances like the one he turned in on Saturday have a way of leading to big things.
“I want Benavidez,” he said, “but I don’t care. I’m ready for everybody.”
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