David Morrell Jr. will reportedly be fighting Radivoje Kalajdzic for the WBA ‘regular’ light heavyweight title on June 22nd in Houston, Texas.
Fernando Sabatini reports that Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) will be moving up from 168 to fight #6 Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs) for the WBA ‘regular’ 175-lb belt on the undercard of Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin.
Seeking Opportunities and Bigger Paydays
If Morrell, 26, is victorious, he will have to vacate his WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight title as part of the condition of the 175-lb belt being on the line. The move makes sense for Morrell because he’s got no opportunities at super middleweight.
The big three, Canelo Alvarez, David Benavidez, and Caleb Plant, have shown no interest in fighting Morrell. He’s just wasting his career by staying at 168, fighting no-name opposition with no chance for big-money fights.
Moving up to 175 will allow Morrell to put himself in play for a fight against champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. Fighting in Saudi Arabia would bring Morrell a big payday.
If Morrell can get a chance to fight whoever emerges as the winner for the undisputed light heavyweight championship in Saudi Arabia, it would bring him a giant payday.
What would be interesting is if Morrell beats Benavidez to the punch by getting a shot at the Beterbiev-Bivol winner before he does. Benavidez is expected to fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the WBC interim light heavyweight title on the undercard of the Tank Davis vs. Martin card on June 22nd as well.
Chasing Benavidez and Relieving Weight Cut Pressure
Another benefit of Morrell moving up to light heavyweight is that he can continue to chase after a fight against Benavidez. That’s a guy that Morrell has wanted to fight, but hasn’t been able to get him to agree to take the fight.
Morrell is big for the 168-lb division, and like Benavidez, he should be fighting at 175 because he doesn’t need to drop so much weight. With Morrell moving up to light heavyweight, he won’t have to put himself through as much torture to make the weight.
Promoter Eddie Hearn will likely be pleased to see Morrell move up to 175, becaue his fighter Edgar Berlanga is his WBA mandatory for the Cuban talent’s ‘regular’ 168-b title.
With Morrell potentially vacating his WBA title if he’s victorious against Kalajdzic, Berlanga will either be elevated to the new champion or will fight the next highest-ranked available contender in the WBA’s rankings.