A main event which never had any business carrying a title at stake, is now officially a non-title fight.
Confusion lingered on Christmas Day following the weigh-in results for Saturday’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Fox. In the headlining act, unbeaten David Morrell (3-0, 2KOs) faces Mike Gavronski in what is now officially a 10-round bout which will air live in primetime from Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California.
Morrell weighed in at 170 pounds, while Gavronski (26-3-1, 16KOs)—a fringe contender from Bellevue, Washington—tipped the scale at 167.4 pounds.
The bout has been advertised throughout the promotion as an interim super middleweight title fight, a belt which Morrell claimed in a 12-round win over Lennox Allen this past August live on Fox from Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Rumors have since swirled that Morrell lost the title at the scale, with the strap only at stake for Gavronski as a reward for having weighed within the 168-pound divisional limit.
Conflicting information from those associated with the event only adds to the confusion, though BoxingScene.com has since confirmed with officials that the bout is in fact a 10-round non-title affair.
Representatives from Morrell’s team have downplayed false reports of the super middleweight losing his title at the scale, though also suggesting that the fight was contracted to take place at a maximum weight of 170 pounds and as a 10-round non-title affair. That information is in stark contrast to every press release distributed by PBC, including Friday’s bout sheet complete with final weights and a header still advertising the main event as an interim title fight.
PBC’s verified Twitter account also referred to Saturday’s main event as taking place with Morrell’s interim title on the line, per a tweet generated Friday evening after the official weigh-in. The tweet has since been taken down and replaced with a notice simply referring to Morrell as an interim titlist.
Either way, Morrell gets in his second straight Fox-televised appearance of 2020. The 22-year old southpaw from Minneapolis by way of Cuba turned pro just last August but has been aggressively matched and is being groomed to make a run in the suddenly lucrative super middleweight division.
Also on the main Fox show:
Austin’s James Kirkland (34-2, 30KOs) weighed 162 pounds for his scheduled 10-round middleweight clash versus Los Mochis, Mexico’s Juan Maciel Montiel who weighed 161.4 pounds;
Promising junior welterweight prospect Jesús Ramos (13-0, 12KOs) of Casa Grande, Arizona weighed 144.4 pounds in his second straight Fox-televised primetime appearance, in a scheduled 10-round bout versus Philadelphia’s Naim Nelson (14-4, 1KO) who weighed 143.2 pounds.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for @BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox