“They don’t know if it’s going to be the end of January or on Valentine’s Day,” said coach James ‘Buddy’ McGirt to MillCity Boxing about when the Callum Smith vs. David Morrell fight will happen. “We’re preparing now like it’s the end of January. Callum is in the right frame of mind. He’s going to beat Morrell.”
Morrell Is Younger That Matters
Being in the right frame of mind doesn’t mean anything. Smith is going to have to go to war with the younger 27-year-old Morrell. He’s not going to win just because of positive thinking.
Smith turns 36 in the first quarter of 2026. So, he must win this fight because he’s running out of time. If he gets knocked out by Morrell, it’s going to be hard for him to rebuild in time before he ages out. Of course, with Eddie Hearn’s backing, it’s possible that Callum could absorb a loss and come back.
“Morrell has a hell of an amateur background [130-5]. He’s Cuban. I seen him fight once in LA [against Radivoje Kalajdzic]. We know what we got to do, and that’s why we’re in camp now,” said McGirt.
The Benavidez Fight Says a Lot
The blueprint on how to defeat Morrell was already created by David Benavidez. Throwing a lot of shots and keeping him shelled up is the way. However, it’s not foolproof. Imam Khataev attempted to use that strategy against Morrell last July, and he came up empty in a 10-round split decision loss.
Morrell kept hurting him with shots. He would have knocked Khataev out if he continued to throw each time he had him in trouble.
“Callum,” said McGirt when asked ‘Who’s the puncher?’ I’m not saying he can’t punch, but Callum punches harder,” said McGirt.
Smith Takes Too Many Shots
Smith is going to have to worry about not taking so many shots in this fight because Morrell can punch. In Callum’s seventh-round knockout loss to Artur Beterbiev in January 2024, he folded under the power and the pressure. The jab and the short combination punching from Beterbiev wore Smith down.
This Might Not Last Long
Callum does have good power, but he may not stick around long enough for it to be a factor against Morrell. If he gets hit as much as he did in his fights against Beterbiev and Joshua Buatsi, this bout could be over by the sixth or seventh rounds. Morrell has better power than McGirt thinks.
Interestingly, McGirt says he still hasn’t watched Morrell’s fight against David Benavidez from last March. You’d think that out of all the fights he would want to watch, it would be that one because the 6’2″ Benavidez is close to the same height as the 6’3″ Smith.
Benavidez defeated Morrell by using volume punching to earn a 12-round decision. On the downside, ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez’s face was badly marked up from Morrell’s punches. Looking at the two after the fight, one would assume that Morrell won because his face was unmarked compared to Benavidez’s.
