WBO president Gustavo Olivieri has given WBC interim light heavyweight champion Callum Smith and David Morrell a deadline of 4pm ET this Friday, November 14, to reach an agreement before ordering a purse bid.
Smith’s title dream rerouted
Last summer, on July 21, 2025, the World Boxing Organization announced the Callum Smith vs. David Morrell fight ordered. The WBO’s order scuppered plans for the 35-year-old Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) to fight WBC 175-lb champion David Benavidez or WBO champion Dmitry Bivol.
Smith was reportedly in talks with Benavidez before the WBO’s order. That fight would have given Callum a chance to become a two-division world champion. Instead, Smith has to fight #2 WBA, #2 WBC, #2 WBO and #4 IBF contender Morrell (12-1, 9 KOs).
For Smith to get a title shot now, he needs to defeat the Cuban-born Morrell, and it’s not going to be easy. Morrell is much younger at 27, and he has a new coach, Abel Sanchez, replacing Ronnie Shields. It is Sanchez’s job to reinvent Morrell, filling in the missing ingredient needed for him to capitalize on his superior strength, technique and athleticism to become the #1 fighter at 175.
Morrell’s inconsistency problem
Morrell has not looked impressive in his last three fights against Imam Khataev, David Benavidez, and Radivoje Kalajdzic. He lost to Benavidez via a 12-round unanimous decision earlier this year on February 1st, then battled to defeat Khataev via a controversial 10-round split decision on July 12th, 2025 in Queens, New York.
The three fights showed that Morrell has a problem with consistency in his offense and a tendency to retreat to the ropes and cover up. He can’t do that against quality fighters because they allow him to get bombarded.
This is what led to Morrell being beaten by Benavidez and coming close to losing to Khataev. When Morrell was on the attack in both fights, he was a nightmare for them. But then he would stand back, clown, or retreat to the ropes, fighting like a sparring partner. It was strange to watch as Morrell should know better given his years in Cuba fighting elite opposition such as Julio Cesar La Cruz and Osleys Iglesias. If he fights Callum Smith like that, he will be knocked out.
“Re: WBO Interim Light Heavyweight Championship Smith/Morrell. The WBO will give the parties until tomorrow, 4:00 PM (AST) to reach terms. Failure to do so will result in the ordering of purse bid proceedings,” WBO President Gustavo Olivieri, Esq. on X on the Callum Smith vs David Morrell fight.
Former WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith defeated previously unbeaten 2016 Olympian Joshua Buatsi by a 12-round unanimous decision on February 22, 2025 in Riyadh. It was an exciting back-and-forth type fight that Smith pulled out by hurting Buatsi repeatedly in the championship rounds. The scores were 115-113, 119-110 and 116-112.
Last updated on 13/11/2025
