“They don’t know if it’s going to be at the end of January or on Valentine’s Day,” said coach James ‘Buddy’ McGirt. MillCity Boxing on when the Callum Smith vs David Morrell fight will take place. “We are now preparing as if it is the end of January, Callum is in the right frame of mind. He’s going to beat Morrell.“
Morrell is younger which matters
Being in the right state of mind means nothing. Smith is going to have to go to war with the younger 27-year-old Morrell. He is not going to win just because of positive thinking.
Smith turns 36 in the first quarter of 2026. So, he has to win this battle because he is running out of time. If he gets knocked out by Morrell, it’s going to be hard for him to rebuild in time before he ages. Of course, with Eddie Hearn’s backing, it’s possible that Callum could absorb a loss and bounce back.
“Morell has a hell of an amateur background (130-5). He’s Cuban. I saw him fight once in LA (against Radivoje Kalajdzic). We know what we have to doand that’s why we’re in camp right now,” McGirt said.
The Benavidez fight says a lot
The blueprint on how to defeat Morrell has already been created by David Benavidez. Throwing a lot of shots and holding him up is the way. However, it is not infallible. Imam Khataev tried to use that strategy against Morrell last July, and he came up empty in a 10-round split decision loss.
Morrell kept hurting him with shots. He would have knocked Khataev out if he kept throwing every time he had him in trouble.
“Callum,” McGirt said when asked ‘Who’s the puncher?’ I’m not saying he can’t hit, but Callum hits harder,” McGirt said.
Smith takes too many shots
Smith will have to worry about not taking as many shots in this fight because Morrell can punch. In Callum’s seventh round knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev in January 2024, he folded under the force and the pressure. The jab and the short combination punch of Beterbiev hurt Smith.
It may not last long
Callum does have good power, but he may not last long enough to be a factor against Morrell. If he gets hit as much as he did in his fights against Beterbiev and Joshua Buatsi, this fight could be over by the sixth or seventh rounds. Morrell has better strength than McGirt thinks.
Interestingly, McGirt says he hasn’t watched Morrell’s fight against David Benavidez from last March. You would think that out of all the fights he would want to watch, it would be that one because the 6’2″ Benavidez is close to the same height as the 6’3″ Smith.
Benavidez defeated Morrell using volume punches to earn a 12-round decision. On the downside, ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez’s face was badly scarred from Morrell’s punches. Looking at the two after the fight, one would assume Morrell won because his face was unmarked compared to Benavidez’s.
