By Ian S Palmer
Undefeated regular WBA Super Middleweight Champion David Morrell of Cuba will be battling it out with Alantez Fox of Washington, DC this Saturday, December 11 in Morrell’s adopted hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 12-round bout can be seen live in North America on Fox. Morrell last fought in June when he stopped Mario Cazares in the first round. He won the interim crown by beating Lennox Allen by 12-round unanimous decision in August, 2020. Fox stopped Manny Woods in the seventh round in his last outing in June.
The 23-year-old southpaw Morrell is well known for his amateur exploits as he compiled a 130–2 record and captured gold medals at the 2016 Youth World Championships, the 2017 Cuban National Championships and the India Open International Boxing Tournament in 2018 in the light heavyweight division. Morrell made his pro debut in August, 2019 when he stopped Yendris Rodriguez Valdez in just 65 seconds and has boxed just 19 rounds since.
He stopped Quinton Rankin in the second round three months later before beating Lennox Allen and then stopped Mike Gavronski in the third round before halting Cazares. Morrell now stands at a perfect 5-0 with 4 Kos for a current knockout ratio of 80 per cent. He has good size as he stands 6-feet-1-inch tall with a reach of 78.5 inches. Like most Cuban national champions, Morrell is a polished boxer with plenty of skills and could potentially land some big-money fights in the future.
As for Fox, he’s 29 years old and enters the contest with a mark of 28-2-1 with 13 Kos. He made his pro debut in 2010 after an amateur career and has boxed only 164 since. His power is average at best with a current knockout ratio of 40.6 per cent. Fox is big for a super middleweight at 6-foot-4-inches and a 79-inch reach. This gives him a three-inch height advantage over Morrell and an insignificant half-inch edge in reach.
Fox’s defeats came at the hands of Demetrius Andrade in 12 rounds by unanimous decision in 2017 and he had Andrade down in the seventh round. He was then stopped by Liam Williams in the fifth stanza in 2019 in a shot at the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Title. His lone draw was an eight-round affair with Frank Galarza back in 2012.
Fox’s biggest wins have been over Franklin Gonzalez, Guillermo Valdez, Eric Mitchell, Frank Nunez, Paul Valenzuela, Ronald Montes, Elvin Ayala and Marcos Hernandez. He also fought to a three-round no-contest with Habib Ahmed in 2020 and won the vacant WBC United States (USNBC) Middleweight Belt in 2017 with a 10-round unanimous decision over Kenneth McNeil.
Prediction…
Many fans aren’t too familiar with Morell or Fox but Morrell is a good-looking prospect who already holds some version of a fringe world title. Fox may be remembered for his fight with Demtrius Andrade and he’s quite tall for the 168 lb division. He needs to stay on the outside and utilize his reach but I’m still expecting the young Cuban Morrell to retain his title and remain unbeaten on the weekend with Fox putting up a decent fight.
