WBA secondary super middleweight champion David Morrell (8-0, 7 KOs) put on a boxing clinic on Saturday night, showcasing his skills in defeating Aidos Yerbossynuly (16-1, 11 KOs) by a 12th round knockout at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
According to Showtime, Yerbossynuly was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center to be checked out after the fight. He had collapsed after the second knockdown and was in bad shape, needing to be half-carried to his corner by Tony Weeks and Morrell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWxecE-3cVM
It’s unclear why Yerbossynuly’s corner didn’t halt the fight well before the twelfth round because it was obvious that he was taking a systematic beating by Morrell and needed to be pulled out to protect him.
After the fight, Morrell called out David Benavidez, saying he wants him next. That’ll be some fight if it comes off. Benavidez has the power, size and the hand speed to give Morrell a lot of problems.
Morrell showed good sportsmanship when he helped Yerbossynuly back to his corner when he collapsed after the second knockdown.
“I don’t think anyone is scared of me; I respect everyone in this division,” said Morrell, looking ahead to what could come next. “I do know they are aware of me. They know exactly who David Morrell Jr. is and that he’s coming for it all. I want David Benavidez, but I don’t care. I’m ready for everybody.”
The fight had already been stopped by the referee Tony Weeks, and he’d been trying to help Yerbossynuly back to his corner when collapsed. Morrell then came up and helped Yerbossynuly back to his corner. He looked in really bad shape.
Morrell slowly broke down Yerbossynuly’s face with his heavy shots, leading to the point where he looked a total mess by the 12th round. When Morrell turned it up a notch, Yerbossynuly was unable to defend himself, resulting in him hitting the deck twice.
Referee Tony Weeks finally stepped in and called a halt to the bout after the second knockdown.
Yerbossynuly was badly hurt from the shots that he’d taken in the round and during the course of the mostly one-sided fight. Earlier in the round, the referee Weeks docked a point from Yerbossynuly for holding.
Given the condition Yerbossynuly was in, it’s not surprising that he was trying to hold because he was taking a real shellacking.
The Kazakh’s trainer would have done him a huge favor if he’d thrown in the towel after the first knockdown in the 12th because it was clear that he had no chance of surviving and definitely no shot at scoring a miracle knockout of Morrell.
“Thank you, everybody, from Minnesota, for coming,” said Morrell when interviewed by SHOWTIME’s Jim Gray after the fight. “Yeah, the guy is strong. I saw that he was hurt at the moment, and the results came with the knockdown,” said Morrell about the second knockdown of Yerbossynuly in the twelfth round.
“The results will come as long as I listen to my corner, listen to my father, listen to my promoter, listen to everybody; the course will take its place. I want Benavidez,” said Morrell.
The fight was one-sided from the start, as Morrell went all out in the first four rounds, trying to score a fast knockout against the much slower and less athletic 30-year-old Yerbossynuly.
When Morrell realized that he wasn’t going to be able to score a quick knockout, he slowed down the pace of his attacks, conserving energy for the long haul.
The fight wasn’t entirely one-sided, considering that Yerbossynuly was landing a lot of hard body shots that took something out of Morrell, making him think twice about unloading on him as he’d done in the first four rounds.
With the win, Morrell Jr could potentially face interim WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez in 2023. That’s a fight that Benavidez’s promoter Sampson Lewkowicz is interested in putting together next year. But first, Benavidez must beat Caleb Plant in their fight in early 2023.
It’s hard to know how Morrell will handle the pressure and heavy shots from Benavidez because he hasn’t fought anyone nearly as talented during his eight-fight professional career.