David Morrell has to fight faster and throw more pushing to defeat the Olympic bronze medalist Imam Khataev in their 10-round light heavyweight fight on July 12 in Queens, New York.
Former two divisions world champion Morrell (10-1, 9 COs) lost his last fight against David Banavidez by working out by working out. Although Morrell has the better power, he did not combine the high production of ‘The Mexican Monster’ benavidez and lost a unanimous 12 -round decision.
Morrell’s punch volume strategy
Afterwards, Morrell must have trained at medium distance because he landed large shots on him. What is missing was the consistent output. You could see the damage done to Morrell to the face of Benavidez, which at the end looked like Frankenstein’s monster.
Against Khataev, considered the next Artur Betterbiev, Morrell must let his hands go and focus on surpassing him. If you set a fast pace, the key to victory against Khatav.
Morrell, 27, could lose this battle when he tried Khataev. The judges will be impressed with the heavy, conspicuous shots of the Russian Khatav, which hit hard with each shot. It would be an error for David to move against him all night. Morrell does not move well enough to escape the pressure of a fighter like Khataev.
It is difficult to determine how good Khataev is, because the opposition with which he became pro in 2021 was from a lower level. Khataev, 30, looks at the level of Artur Betterbiev, but he doesn’t have his guest tank.
Despite Khataev’s Olympic credentials, she chose promoters to suit him against fewer fighters. Now he is about to take a big step in class and fight against Morrell, and it can be a shock and hit by this kind of fighter.
Imam Khataev’s endurance issues
Khataev (10-0, 9 COs) is the biggest puncher that Morrell will fought during his six-year-old pro career, but he has proven to have serious endurance.
In Khataev’s last fight against Durval Elias Palacio, he threw out in the championships and stopped close to the ninth round. Morrell is at a different level than Palacio and Khataev got into trouble of fighting when he empties his guest tank against him.
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Last updated on 06/21/2025
