The WBO -Tussentage light heavyweight champion, Callum Smith, was ordered by the sanction body for his belt against the no. 3 to defend David Morrell next. This is not the battle that Callum (31-2, 22 COs) hoped to get. The battle will be targeted in Riyadh for the Ring IV event on November 22.
Smith waited for his legitimate title shot against the 175-pound WBO champion. However, Biblical intends to fight a trilogy match against Artur betterbiev.
WBO Mandate Morrell
The Ring magazine Report the news of Smith against Morrell ordered by the World Boxing Organization. This puts Callum in a difficult position where it either considers the fight or rejects it, which will lead him to be stripped of his WBO tussentage belt. He needs that title to get a world title against the Bivol-Beterbiev 3 winner.
It is a rarity for interim champions to be ordered to defend their belts as they are designed to be placeholders while a champion is busy with a unification or injured. None of these things apply to the WBO champion Biblical.
Interestingly, the WBO will enable Biblical to fight better Biev rather than Smith. Betterbiev is not a champion, and Biblical was not injured. So, he must defend next against Smith.
If Morrell, 27, performs the way he did in his last fight against Imam Khataev on July 12, Callum has an excellent chance of winning. The Cuban Morrell does not consistently fight enough to predict that he is winning against an experienced fighter like Smith.
When Morrell attacked Khataev, it was so easy for him. He looked like he was many levels above the Russian fighter. But he would then stop regularly and come up after his guard so that Khataev could take him down.
David Morrell’s “playful” approach
Morrell had a playful appearance throughout the fight and treated it as if he was haunted with a friend that he didn’t want to hurt. You could see how Morrell would injure Khataev, and then back again than to finish him. He seemed to be sorry for himself. If it was Morrell’s attitude, it almost took him the fight.
You can see that Morrell likes Khataev and did not want to knock him out. It was like a cat playing with a mouse during the second half of the competition. Morrell’s talent was supremacy, but he did not want to stay locked to complete the work.
Last updated on 07/21/2025
