After an agonizing series of delays, Callum Smith and David Morrell Jr are officially set to meet in a tantalizing light heavyweight showdown for the interim WBO title on April 18th at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena.
Hometown fighter Smith (31-2, 22 KO) is coming off a cracker of a fight with Joshua Buatsi last February, which saw him overpower his undefeated opponent and prove that he still had something left in the tank after the prior year’s destructive loss to Artur Beterbiev. Despite being 35 with a number of donnybrooks under his belt, he’s a legitimate player at 175 now that the Bivol-Beterbiev era appears to be winding down.
It’s questionable whether the same can be said of Morrell (12-1, 9 KO), a monstrous super middleweight who’s looked worryingly mortal at light heavyweight. Since capping off his run at 168 with a two-round mauling of Sena Agbeko, he’s taken a decision over Radivoje Kalajdzic, lost his 0 to David Benavidez, and taken a highly controversial split decision over Imam Khataev in which Morrell hit the canvas for the first time.
In terms of action potential, this is among the best fights on the schedule. We’ll keep you posted as the undercard comes together.
