Eddie Hearn is eager to call Callum Smith vs. David Morrell “closed in”

The match promoter Eddie Hearn said on Friday that he wanted to “lock” the fight between WBO tussenty light heavyweight champion Callum Smith (31-2, 22 COs) and David Morrell. Hearn is in conversation with Morrell’s promoter, Luis Decubas, to fight.

Morrell (12-1, 9 costs) will arrive at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York, on July 12 with an exciting 10 round victory over Imam Khataev. Many fans felt that it was the fight of the night on that map.

Khataev dropped Morrell in round five, but Morrell returned strongly in the second half to win. Round 10, 11 and 12 were back and forth with Morrell and Khatav who took turns out.

‘The same conversations with Luis Decubas. This is a fight directly ordered by the WBO. It is a battle in which his excellence (Turki Alalshikh) is also interested. It’s a huge game, and he’s very invested in the 175-pound division, ‘said match promoter Eddie Hearn.

“So we want to get that fight locked, but it will be the next battle for Callum Smith,” says Hearn.

This is a risky battle for Smith, 35, and one can understand why Hearn doesn’t sound too enthusiastic when he talks about going up against the mighty and 27-year-old Morrell. There is a significant age gap between the two, and it can play a role in the result.

Smith comes from a grueling 12-round unanimous victory over the previously unbeaten Joshua Buatsi on February 22, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It was a fight that Smith had a lot on the line because he couldn’t afford to lose at his age. He overcame after fighting Buatsi and now has the 175-pound WBO-Tuss-entitled title. With the belt, Smith is in a position to challenge the WBO champion Dmitri Biblical and earn a lot of money. However, the WBO negotiated on July 21, 2025, to begin between Smith and Morrell.

“Morrell is the fresher of the two. (Smith’s) Wear and Age make me uncertain if Callum Morrell can beat,” analyst Paulie Malignaggi told Boxrec. “Morrell’s wealth of amateur experience had him in dealing with a steady string of difficult attacks before he had an edge and held him in a daring position while becoming a world titlist.”

Morrell’s amateur record in Cuba was an impressive 130-5 before becoming a pro in 2019. He has the youth, power and amateur experience to give Callum a tough fight. In Morrell’s last three fights, he faced these big punches:

• Imam Khataev: W-SD 10
• David benavidez: l-ud 12
• Radivoje Kalajdzic: W-Aud 12

Fighter Morrell lost, Banavidez, took a lot of punishment from Morrell in their battle on February 1, 2025. Morrell bumped Benavidez in fourth place and dropped him in the 11th

At the end of the fight, Banavidez’s face was swollen, and he looked like he got the worst of it. He has not fought since. The scores were 118-108, 115-111 and 115-111.

“Morrell’s strength of confidence in his amateur experience is of such a nature that (he) wants the biggest, worst athletes. I give my hat to him. It’s a new era,” analyst Chris Algieri told Boxrec.