David Morrell Jr stayed unbeaten and scored another stoppage, putting away an extremely tough Aidos Yerbossynuly in the 12th and final round of their Showtime main event from Minneapolis.
Morrell (8-0, 7 KO) largely controlled the fight all night, doing a lot of damage and busting up the face of Yerbossynuly (16-1, 11 KO). But Yerbossynuly, who waited 14 months to face Morrell for the secondary WBA “world” title at 168 lbs, was tough as old shoe leather, had plenty of good moments, and kept trying to win this fight.
Things really turned in the final round, though, when Morrell dropped Yerbossynuly, who was not on good legs from that point. Yerbossynuly was docked a point by referee Tony Weeks for some heavy holding, and then Morrell finished him off in brutal fashion.
Yerbossynuly was on really unsteady legs when he got back to his feet, and Morrell helped referee Weeks get his vanquished opponent to the corner, showing a lot of sportsmanship.
“The guy was strong, but that’s me, man,” Morrell said. “A knockout is a knockout, in the first round or 12th, whatever.”
Morrell again said that he wanted David Benavidez next, but now that Benavidez will be facing Caleb Plant — which isn’t official official, but contracts are reportedly signed on both sides — he says he’s ready for anyone else.
Morrell vs Yerbossynuly highlights
Undercard results and highlights
- Brian Mendoza KO-5 Jeison Rosario: Mendoza came in on short notice here, replacing injured Yoelvis Gomez, whom Rosario was supposed to “test,” basically. On paper, anyway. Rosario, a former 154 lb titleholder, got bumped to the A-side, and in the end he took another L, his third in his last six, and his third straight in fights against opponents with pulses. Mendoza (21-2, 15 KO) has been hot and cold since he started getting TV chances, but he can fight, and he was able to hurt the increasingly fragile, to put it one way, Rosario (23-4-1, 17 KO), dropping the Dominican in the second round and then knocking him out with a big uppercut in the fifth. Mendoza can fight at 154 or 160 — this was at 160, as Rosario has moved up in weight — but I wouldn’t necessarily expect to see him leap into elite contention, but sometimes fighters like Mendoza really do find a career groove, and at 28, now would be the time to do it. He looked good here, and he got the job done.
- Fiodor Czerkaszyn UD-10 Nathaniel Gallimore: Czerkaszyn with a nice Showtime debut, really pretty dominant over Gallimore, who is very tough. If Czerkaszyn (21-0, 13 KO) laid in some of the punishment he gave Gallimore on someone less durable, this would have been a stoppage. Gallimore (22-6-1, 17 KO) just didn’t and really couldn’t throw enough, as Czerkaszyn kept it simple, was accurate, and dictated where and how the fight was fought.
- Andre Dirrell TKO-10 Yunieski Gonzalez (1:30)
- Julian Williams UD-8 Rolando Mansilla (79-72, 79-72, 80-71)
- Kent Cruz D-8 Enriko Gogokhia (74-78, 76-76, 76-76)