By Matt Lieberman: David Morrell Jr will defend his WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight title against 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Yamaguchi Falcao in a twelve-round co-feature about next week on the Geervontaa ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Ryan Garcia card.
Placing Morrell-Falcao in the chief support bout isn’t likely to move the needle to motivate boxing fans sitting on the fence, deciding whether to pull the trigger to purchase the $84.99 event on Showtime pay-per-view on April 22nd from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Morrell (8-0, 7 KOs) had been scheduled to face fringe contender Sena Agbeko, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission didn’t license him.
“Although I have a new opponent, the mission is still the same: seek and destroy,” said Morrell Jr. “I’ve been fighting my whole life. I’ve seen every style, and I’m prepared to face anyone that’s in front of me. It’s go time, as usual. Don’t miss this fight!”
It’s too bad a better opponent couldn’t have been found for Morrell to fight because this isn’t a big enough match-up to excite the fans. Diego Pacheco, Demetrius Andrade, Vladimir Shishkin, or Edgar Berlanga would be better options than the 35-year-old Falcao.
“They call me ‘The Problem,’ and I am coming to show the world that I have the talent and determination to become the WBA Super Middleweight Champion,” said Falcao. “I promise that everyone tuning in will be extremely happy with the show that we put on. I’m coming to win on April 22.”
The bad news for fans is that the 35-year-old Falcao (24-1-1, 10 KOs) isn’t any better than Agbeko and might be a worse opponent. Falcao is a classic example of a decent amateur, but his ability didn’t transfer to the pros. Now long in the tooth in his mid-30s, Falcao will look like a fish out of water against Morrell, and the fans will witness a non-competitive slaughter.
If the main event delivers between Gervonta and Ryan, fans will feel they got their money’s worth paying $85 on PPV. Still, if it doesn’t, the chief support bout won’t give them much entertainment, nor the rematch between 37-year-old journeyman Gabe Rosado and Bektemir Melikuziev.
Although Falcao was a good amateur, he’s not been impressive in the pro ranks during his nine-year professional career. This is not likely to be a competitive fight, with him taking on the talented 25-year-old Cuban Morrell.
Falcao’s only career defeat came against Christopher Pearson by a 10-round unanimous decision in 2019. For those unfamiliar with Pearson, he’s a guy that Justin DeLoach and Carlos Gongora knocked out.
Falcao also had a 10-round draw against D’Mitrius Ballard in 2019. Ballard is the guy Jaime Munguia knocked out in three rounds last year.
The fact that Falcao wouldn’t beat Ballard or Pearson gives you a pretty good indication of what kind of co-feature bout fans will likely be seeing on the Tank Davis vs. Ryan Garcia card next week on April 22nd.
In other undercard fights on the pay-per-view portion of the Showtime card:
- Gabe Rosado vs. Bektemir Melikuziev II
- Elijah Garcia vs. Kevin Salgado.