Morrell To Fight Radivoje Kalajdzic At 175 In June

[CubanGuyNYC]

At some point, fans must realize that the blame cannot be placed at Canelo's feet, or Crawford's or Spence's. Contenders not fighting isn't one fighter's fault, it's symptomatic of deeply-rooted systemic issues....and fans are always praying that one boxer will come and be the solution. Boxers are not altruistic; they're likely to abuse their power because one's career can change abruptly. In boxing, those who are bullied eventually become bullies, the heroes become villains, warriors become businessmen. We often let our desires/emotions cloud our ability to realize that history continues repeating itself. Different boxers, similar scenarios. Morrell/Ennis aren't having issues getting fights because of Canelo/Crawford. You can remove Canelo/Crawford from the equation, and the inactivity and complacency/entitlement will likely persist. We've watched boxing long enough to know that a fighter will prioritize $$$ over a title, and their teams will play games with the ranking systems in order to avoid certain fighters. Morrell becoming full WBA titlist will not drastically improve his risk:reward ratio, nor did it improve Ennis' risk:reward ratio. The boxer who is overlooked needs to get creative and take some risks, calculated or not: Haney going to Australia twice, Bam fighting Cuadras on short notice, Tszyu/Fundora on short notice, and many more.

Morrell needs to do something to get out of Benavidez's shadow because it's obvious that PBC is prioritizing one over the other. Morrell needs to work twice as hard, and be twice as committed. He has to be willing to take ANY opportunity that comes because they will be few and far between. He needs to view Kalajzdic as a mortal enemy, and destroy him. Then do the same thing again in 3 months.

Excellent post. Couldn’t agree more. In fact, I agree so much that I’ll go as far as to say that I would do the same thing if I were a star boxer. You think I’m gonna risk my health any more than I have to to satisfy the fans? The fans don’t give a fook about the fighters. Wilfred Benitez, one of the greatest, is literally a vegetable these days. His sister, who’s in her sixties, is the only one helping him. Nobody cares. If the fans want to see the really big fights they have to make the system force it, otherwise multi-millionaire fighters have ever-declining incentive.

[ShoulderRoll]

I thought Hot Rod looked like **** against Barrera.

And Marcus Browne beat him too.

[kiaba360]

Excellent post. Couldn’t agree more. In fact, I agree so much that I’ll go as far as to say that I would do the same thing if I were a star boxer. You think I’m gonna risk my health any more than I have to to satisfy the fans? The fans don’t give a fook about the fighters. Wilfred Benitez, one of the greatest, is literally a vegetable these days. His sister, who’s in her sixties, is the only one helping him. Nobody cares. If the fans want to see the really big fights they have to make the system force it, otherwise multi-millionaire fighters have ever-declining incentive.

I watched a documentary made by Rich The Fight Historian on YT about Benitez a while ago, truly a remarkable career and a cautionary tale. You can tell some modern-day boxers look at fighters of yesteryear and feel the pressure of living up to lofty expectations...but also want to avoid major catastrophe in the process. That's what I had in mind when I said "warriors turn businessmen". Joshua doesn't want to end up bankrupt and damaged beyond repair like many of the HW legends before him. Even guys that have yet to truly accomplish much in their careers, like Jared Anderson and Ryan Garcia, don't envision a long pro career and already planning an exit strategy. GGG quietly dropped his titles and found a way to stay around sport without having to lace up for a living ever again; that's probably the fantasy for many boxers. I can't begrudge them for not wanting to have a lengthy career where they risk absorbing too much punishment. The "Boxers are not altruistic" message is almost like a loss of innocence; it's the moment where we start perceiving these fighters as human beings rather than idols. Boxers can be arrogant, greedy, delusional, cowardly, undisciplined, and every other negative adjective lol. It doesn't mean we don't respect the sacrifice they're making, but it's just the reality of the situation.

Boxing is such an interesting industry to observe because the "Business" and the "Sport" are often not harmonious. I think a lot of the issues stem from that imbalanced and chaotic relationship. If I hadn't been introduced to boxing as a kid, I'm not sure if I'd ever become anything more than a casual fan.

[garfios]

Is it that hard to find anyone in the top 15 to fight?

If your name is David Morell jr, the answer is yes, very hard.

[garfios]

Weird. There was no one at 168 or is he moving up?

I wish PBC would make more fights with their ridiculous roster. Morrell should be fighting Caleb, Mall or Andrade to boost up his name value for a big fight with Canelo or Benavidez next year. But instead they don't get David the Canelo fight, they don't get Morrell a fight worth a fook & at his current weight & they piss away their nearly locked up ability to sign Boots whos been down with Showtime/Espinoza for yrs by their lack of ability at keeping mfers active.

Morrell needs to leave for Matchroom too. Fook it. PBC playing too damn much.

I told you a few months ago that it was hard to get him a fight, no guy with aspirations to a belt, or within a distance of smelling ginger's a$$, would sign to fight DMJ. The monster moved up, mbilli won't fight him, pacheco is mentioning everyone except Morrell Jr.

[garfios]

At some point, fans must realize that the blame cannot be placed at Canelo's feet, or Crawford's or Spence's. Contenders not fighting isn't one fighter's fault, it's symptomatic of deeply-rooted systemic issues....and fans are always praying that one boxer will come and be the solution. Boxers are not altruistic; they're likely to abuse their power because one's career can change abruptly. In boxing, those who are bullied eventually become bullies, the heroes become villains, warriors become businessmen. We often let our desires/emotions cloud our ability to realize that history continues repeating itself. Different boxers, similar scenarios. Morrell/Ennis aren't having issues getting fights because of Canelo/Crawford. You can remove Canelo/Crawford from the equation*. We've watched boxing long enough to know that a fighter will prioritize $$$ over a title, and their teams will play games with the ranking systems in order to avoid certain fighters. Morrell becoming full WBA titlist will not drastically improve his risk:reward ratio, nor did it improve Ennis' risk:reward ratio. The boxer who is overlooked needs to get creative and take some risks, calculated or not: Haney going to Australia twice, Bam fighting Cuadras on short notice, Tszyu/Fundora on short notice, and many more.

Morrell needs to do something to get out of Benavidez's shadow because it's obvious that PBC is prioritizing one over the other. Morrell needs to work twice as hard, and be twice as committed. He has to be willing to take ANY opportunity that comes because they will be few and far between. He needs to view Kalajzdic as a mortal enemy, and destroy him. Then do the same thing again in 3 months.

I don't agreed with that statement. The risk will be the same but the money and the reward will be greater, been a champion is big difference than been an interim or a "regular champion", he would get more fights for sure, just like RJJ back in the 90's.

[Eff Pandas]

I told you a few months ago that it was hard to get him a fight, no guy with aspirations to a belt, or within a distance of smelling ginger's a$$, would sign to fight DMJ. The monster moved up, mbilli won't fight him, pacheco is mentioning everyone except Morrell Jr.

PBC ain't exactly putting their best foot forward is the biggest issue I see. All those across the street fights aren't easily makeable, but its criminal they aren't paying to make Morrell vs in house guys to boost his profile like Andrade, Mell or Plant.

Morrell should leave PBC. Haymon doesn't press these guys to make the best fights. Meanwhile TR & Matchroom are making competitive fights all the time & moving guys towards challenges Meanwhile Errol is being hyped to fight Fundora & Keef almost had another PPV despite all his inactivity. PBC isnt doing right by most of these promising guys trying to be #1.

[Joseph]

I hate to champion Fast Eddie, but I guarantgoddamntee you he would have the kid fighting at least three times a year.

[kiaba360]

I don't agreed with that statement. The risk will be the same but the money and the reward will be greater, been a champion is big difference than been an interim or a "regular champion", he would get more fights for sure, just like RJJ back in the 90's.

The full title is valuable to a certain extent, but it isn't enough for someone who's being actively avoided. Theoretically, the title is supposed to funnel all contenders towards one individual....but there are four sanctioning bodies and a excessive amount of secondary belts. It is not that difficult to avoid someone whom you don't want to face, and the fighters with strong promoters/managers are more adept at this than others. Morrell needs a persistent push from a strong network/promotional team, so that he maintains a certain level of activity and visibility. GGG had the regular WBA title while Sturm held the "Super" version (the inception of the Super title nonsense iirc), but GGG's career only started gaining traction once he changed promotional companies and HBO made a concerted effort to increase his profile. Is PBC going to put forth the same amount of effort and resources necessary to catapult Morrell? I don't think so, partly because they're trying to build Benavidez into an attraction. Morrell needs to stay active and disciplined, meanwhile PBC continues with the Benavidez experiment. These two will probably see each other eventually.

[garfios]

The full title is valuable to a certain extent, but it isn't enough for someone who's being actively avoided. Theoretically, the title is supposed to funnel all contenders towards one individual....but there are four sanctioning bodies and a excessive amount of secondary belts. It is not that difficult to avoid someone whom you don't want to face, and the fighters with strong promoters/managers are more adept at this than others. Morrell needs a persistent push from a strong network/promotional team, so that he maintains a certain level of activity and visibility. GGG had the regular WBA title while Sturm held the "Super" version (the inception of the Super title nonsense iirc), but GGG's career only started gaining traction once he changed promotional companies and HBO made a concerted effort to increase his profile. Is PBC going to put forth the same amount of effort and resources necessary to catapult Morrell? I don't think so, partly because they're trying to build Benavidez into an attraction. Morrell needs to stay active and disciplined, meanwhile PBC continues with the Benavidez experiment. These two will probably see each other eventually.

The other part of the equation is having money backing you up, so you can have the chance to unify, if you just have a belt, you're right they cpuld go around and trying other belts. What a predicament don't you think?