Boxing analyst Teddy Atlas predicts an early knockout win for Cuban talent David Morrell (10-0, 9 KOs) in his fight against Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic (29-2, 21 KOs) for the vacant WBA World light heavyweight title this Saturday, August 3rd, at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Morrell-Kalajdzic is one of the many excellent fights on Saturday’s stacked Riyadh Season card that will be shown live on DAZN PPV.
Morrell’s Ascent to 175
The former WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion Morrell, 26, is making his debut at 175 after striking out in his attempts at getting meaningful fights against Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez at 168.
Morrell would have stayed in that weight class a little bit longer if he could have gotten those types of fights, but he’s just too good for the popular fighters to want to risk facing him.
Kalajdzic, 32, is a powerful former world title challenger who hasn’t lost since being stopped in the fifth round by IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on May 4th, 2019. ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic has won his last five fights and looked good.
Potential Path to Superstardom
Saturday’s fight will allow Morrell to make a case for being the one to challenge the winner of the October 12th undisputed light heavyweight clash between Beterbiev and WBA champion Dmitry Bivol.
David Benavidez is in pole position to challenge the winner of that fight, but he didn’t look good in his debut at 175, and many feel that he’s not cut out for the division.
If Morrell looks like gold against Kalajdzic, His Excellency Turki Alalashkih may opt to have him fight the winner of the Beterbiev-Bivol fight and let Benavidez get more experience in the weight class to develop his power.
“I really like David Morrell. He’s like a prodigy. He’s won a world title in a very short period of time. Only special fighters do that, and we haven’t seen the best of him,” said boxing analyst Teddy Atlas on his YouTube channel, discussing David Morrell’s fight this Saturday night against Radivoje Kalajdzic in Los Angeles.
The problem with Morrell is he’s not been able to get the fights he’s needed to show off his talent because he’s looked so good. If he had struggled in some of his fights, he likely would have gotten Canelo and Benavidez to face him, but that hasn’t been the case.
Morrell’s Impressive Record
– Sena Agbeko: TKO 2
– Yamaguchi Falcão: KO 1
– Aidos Yerbossynuly: KO 12
– Kalvin Henderson: TKO 4
– Alantez Fox: TKO 4
– Mario Abel Cazares: KO 1
“I take Morrell by knockout, and I would say within four rounds. By the way, Kalajdzic has been stopped one time by a great fighter. A fighter named Beterbiev,” said Atlas.
It would be impressive if Morrell could knock out Kalajdzic quicker than Beterbiev did five years ago, as that would show that he’s equipped to fight at a high level in the 175-lb weight class. We know Morrell was outstanding at 168, but he has to show the fans that he can perform well at 175.
“He hasn’t fought the best yet. We still have to see him at least in a fight that he’ll be tested,” Atlas continued about Morrell. “He’s fighting an awkward fighter [Kalajdzic] who can punch. He’s been knocked out one time. He’s 33 years old, and he’s going to get stopped again, I believe, by Morrell.”
It will be difficult for Kalajdzic to last long in this fight because he will have to go to war with Morrell and try to beat him at his own game. Given his power and talent, I don’t know if that’s possible.
Atlas’s Confidence in Morrell
“Morrell is that kind of talent. He comes from the great Cuban team. We don’t know how good he can be. I think he can be great,” said Atlas.
“I’m going to say if he fights that fight, I’m going to put him in my pound-for-pound. I do believe Morrell is the real thing. He’s just got to get that signature fight that everybody has to get at some point,” said Atlas about Morrell fighting Canelo Alvarez.
Clearly, Canelo won’t fight Morrell because if he had any interest, he would have done it while still at 168.
Canelo won’t move back up to 175 after his bad experience in 2022, and he definitely won’t want to tangle with Morrell and risk getting knocked out. If Benavidez wants nothing to do with Morrell, you can bet Canelo will never fight him.
