By Ian S Palmer
Undefeated interim WBA Super Middleweight Champion David Morrell of Cuba will be battling it out with Mike Gavronski of Bellevue, Washington for the vacant WBA Super Middleweight Title this Saturday, Dec. 26th. This of course is quite asinine as Canelo Alvarez beat Callum Smith just last week for the WBA Super Middleweight Crown, but Alvarez is listed as the organization’s ‘Super’ Champion. The 12-round bout takes place in Los Angles and can be seen live in North America on the Fox network. Morrell won the interim title in his last outing in August in just his third pro fight when he beat Lennox Allen by a wide unanimous decision. Gavronski last fought in September, 2019 with a sixth-round stoppage of Tommy Hughes for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight Belt.
The 22-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, who now fights out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, made his pro debut in August, 2019 when he stopped Yendris Rodriguez Valdez in just 65 seconds.
He then stopped Quinton Rankin in the second round three months later before beating Allen for the vacant WBA interim title. Therefore, he’s a perfect 3-0 with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent. Morrell has decent size as he stands 6-feet-1-inch tall with a reach of 78.5 inches. Like most Cuban national champions, he’s a polished boxer with plenty of skills and is on the fast track to a world title and big-money fights in the future.
As for Gavronski, the 34-year-old climbs through the ropes with a mark of 26-3-1 with 16 Ko’s. He’s boxed 186 rounds since turning pro in 2010 and carries a current knockout ratio of 51.6 per cent. He’s six-feet-tall with a 71-inch reach so gives up an inch in height and a huge 7.5 inches in reach to Morrell. He’s a solid pro but was beaten at the hands of Tureano Johnson by unanimous decision in 2014 and was stopped after eight rounds by Dashon Johnson in 2015.
Gavronski was also stopped by Jesse Hart in the third round in 2018 for the vacant NABF Super Middleweight Title. The loss to Dashon Johnson was for the vacant NABA USA Super Middleweight Crown while the defeat to Tureano Johnson was for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Middleweight Title. His biggest win was against Brian Vera by sixth-round TKO in 2017 and his draw was a four-round affair with Tyrell Hendrix in 2011. Gavronski also took on Daniel Jacobs and Shawn Porter as an amateur and lost to both.
Prediction…
It’s a bit hard to understand how this is a title fight but it is what it is. Gavronski’s a good pro but falls short whenever he steps up in class which is what he’s doing against Morrell. The 22-year-old Cuban has a fine future ahead of him and shouldn’t have too much of a problem getting past a game but outmatched Gavronski.
