WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr (8-0, 7 KOs) battered his overmatched opponent Aidos Yerbossynuly (16-1, 11 KOs), knocking him down twice in the 12th round to get a stoppage on Saturday night at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The 24-year-old Morrell Jr looked spectacular in the first four rounds, but he faded slightly from the fast pace and the body shots that Yerbossynuly was hitting him with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWxecE-3cVM
Still, Morrell dominated the much slower Yerbossynuly, tagging him constantly with shots that swelled up his face.
In the 12th, Morrell teed off on Yerbossynuly, knocking him down twice to get the knockout.
Undercard results
In a shocker, replacement opponent Brian Mendoza (21-2, 15 KOs) dropped former IBF/WBA junior middleweight champion Jeison “Banana” Rosario (23-4-1, 17 KOs) twice en route to stopping him in the fifth round in a middleweight bout.
Mendoza dropped the 27-year-old Rosario with a body shot in the second and then finished him off with a second knockdown from a headshot in the fifth round. The bout was stopped at :35 of the fifth.
Middleweight Fiodor Czerkaszyn (21-0, 13 KOs) defeated Nathaniel Gallimore (22-6-1, 17 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The judges scored it 97-93, 99-91, and 100-90. Czerkaszyn showed a little bit of everything in outboxing Gallimore, and landing some good shots to the head and body.
Andre Dirrell (29-3, 18 KOs) scored a surprising tenth round knockout win over #6 WBA Yunieski Gonzalez (21-4, 17 KOs).
The 39-year-old Dirrell showed that he could still punch by knocking down Gonzalez late in the ninth. In the tenth, the referee decided he’d seen enough and stepped in and waived it off due to the punishment Gonzalez was taking from Dirrell.
The victory for Dirrell was his third in a row, and he’ll likely be pushed up the rankings into a top 10 spot. Despite Dirrell’s advancing age, he still possesses excellent hand speed, power, and boxing ability. However, his chances of winning a world title at 175 are slim.
Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs) snapped a two-fight losing streak with an eight round unanimous decision over veteran Rolando Mansilla (18-12-1, 8 KOs).
Williams dominated the fight with his hard shots and better skills, but he couldn’t get Mansilla out of there despite his superior boxing pedigree. The scores were 80-81, 79-72, and 79-72.
Mansilla was penalized in round five for losing his mouthpiece repeatedly.
The victory for J-Rock was his first since his 12 round decision over Jarrett Hurd in 2019. Since that fight, J-Rock had lost to Jeison Rosario and Vladimir Hernandez.
Light welterweight prospect Kent Cruz (16-0-3, 10 KOs) and Enriko Gogokhia (13-0-2, 8 KOs) fought to an eight round draw. This was the seccond draw between them since earlier this year in February. The scores were 76-76, 76-76, and 78-74 for Gogokhia.
Preview:
Tonight’s Morrell vs. Yerbossynuly fight is expected to have a lot of fireworks, as Morrell and Yerbossynuly are knockout punchers who look to obliterate their opponents. With the way that Morrell attacks his foes, he’s going to force Yerbossynuly to fight whether he likes it or not.
A win tonight for Morrell could lead to him facing David Benavidez in an important fight to try and get a shot against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
The 24-year-old Morrell comes into tonight’s fight with recent wins over Kalvin Henderson, Alantez Fox, Mario Abel Cazares, and Mike Gavronski.
It’s hard to know how good Morrell is at this point in his career because he hasn’t faced anyone good enough to test him adequately. If Morrell can get past Yerbossynuly tonight, we’ll see whether he can handle Benavidez next year.
The seven-year pro, Yerbossynuly, has recent victories over Lennox Allen, Issah Samir, Nuhu Lawal, and Omar Garcia. Yerbossynuly, 30, is in the same boat as Morrell in that he’s not fought anyone notable during his career to show whether he’s for real or not.
Tonight, we’ll find out if Yerbossynuly has the goods to deal with a good fighter or if he’s just another guy with an inflated resume.
“I’m a hunter. I like hunting, and it’s part of our culture. It’s hunting season right now in Kazakhstan, but I’m here in the United States, and I’m here to hunt Morrell and bring that belt home,” said Yerbossynuly.
“There is nothing about David Morrell Jr. that concerns me. There’s nothing special about him. I think that we are evenly matched fighters, but the difference on Saturday night will be that I’m the smarter fighter, and I want it more.
“I’m definitely coming to stop Morrell in this fight. I’m here to get the belt,” said Yerbossynuly.
Former Cuban amateur star David Morrell will defend his WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight title tonight against the upset-minded mandatory Aidos Yerbossynuly live on SHOWTIME Championship bout at The Armory in Minneapolis.
The card begins at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT.
Morrell, 24, is excited about fighting in front of his fans at his adopted new home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, facing the unbeaten Kazakh Yerbossynuly (16-0, 11 KOs) in the main event on SHOWTIME.
