Unbeaten WBA Super Middleweight Champion David O. Morrell Jr. will look to make the most of his first headlining appearance in his adopted hometown when he takes on unbeaten Mario Cazares this Sunday, June 27 in FOX PBC Fight Night action and on FOX Deportes from The Armory in Minneapolis.
“I’m coming in there to give my people in Minnesota what they want,” said Morrell. “I have a job to do. I had my professional debut at The Armory, but now that I’m the headliner in the main event, I’m even more excited to represent this city in front of my hometown crowd.
“I’m very grateful for everyone who’s coming out to support me. I’ve gotten a lot of messages from people that live here that want to come out and see me fight. My fans should expect nothing but the best out of me on Sunday. I’m going to put on a great show. Don’t blink because I’m coming out with everything I have. I won’t let anybody down. ”
The 23-year-old from Cuba has trained out of the Circle of Discipline Gym in Minneapolis since coming stateside to start his career, working alongside top welterweight Jamal James, amongst others. As he heads towards Sunday’s showdown, he’s confident that the work put into training camp will lead to even more improvement against Cazares.
“I’m already on weight and things are going really well,” said Morrell. “I’m ready to give the public what they want. This training camp I went from great to greater. It wasn’t necessarily about doing any one special thing this camp. It was more about working on everything. I train for all types of fighters and styles, and because of that, I’m ready for anything Cazares brings.”
In Cazares, Morrell will be facing an opponent entering this fight off of a career-best victory over former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Although Cazares enters the matchup with three times as many pro fights as his foe, Morrell is not worried about Cazares bringing anything he’s not prepared for.
“Cazares has some good qualities as a boxer, but nothing that I haven’t seen before,” said Morrell. “I’ve seen some videos from when he fought Chavez Jr. I respect Cazares as a fighter and I wish him well. He’s a good boxer and I expect him to fight hard.”
After 2020 saw him win a 12-round decision over Lennox Allen and knockout Mike Gavronski in a pair of bouts on FOX, Morrell is eager to show off the talent that has him already nearing the top of the super middleweight division.
“I have to show everyone the work that I’ve put in,” said Morrell. “In this fight, everyone is going to see more speed and more combinations. People have different opinions of what a top fighter should be. I believe that I’m just different because of my unique style of boxing that I’m going to display on Sunday.”
