Morrell Continues Murderers’ Row, Faces Callum Smith

David Morrell has a fight in the planning stages against WBO interim light heavyweight champion Callum Smith for the first quarter of 2026. For the Cuban Morrell (12-1, 9 KOs), it’s a continuation of the murderers’ row of big punchers he’s been facing since May 2024.

Morrell’s Murderers’ Row

Morrell, 27, has a lot of courage in taking tough fights on Turki Alalshikh’s cards against fighters that many other fighters wouldn’t want to fight.

After his 12-round unanimous decision loss to David Benavidez earlier this year on February 1, he has to take on the clash against Callum Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) to position himself in a spot to challenge WBO champion Dmitry Bivol or be elevated if he chooses to vacate, like he did when ordered to fight Benavidez.

Morrell’s 3-fight Gauntlet

• Imam Khataev: W-SD 10
• David Benavidez: L-UD 12
• Radivoje Kalajdzic: W-UD 12

“I think you see that fight land in Saudi Arabia in early 2026,” said Eddie Hearn to Ring Magazine about a fight between WBO interim light heavyweight champion Callum Smith and David Morrell.

Learning from Benavidez

To beat Smith, Morrell is going to need to be a lot more consistent with his offense than he showed in his last three fights. His habit of fighting in spurts caused him to make fights that would have been made easier if he’d been consistent against Khataev and Kalajdzic. Smith hits too hard for Morrell to take breaks and shell up like he did against Benavidez and Khataev.

Smith, 35, has bounced back nicely, winning his last two fights against Carlos Galvan and Joshua Buatsi after being knocked out in the seventh round by former IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on January 13, 2023.

Smith had to go through a really tough fight against Buatsi, winning a 12-round unanimous decision to capture the WBO interim 175-lb title earlier this year on February 22nd in Riyadh.