David Morrell showed once again why The Armory is his home as he stopped mandatory challenger Aidos Yerbossynuly in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Saturday night. The official time of this stoppage was 2:34 of the twelfth and final round for Morrell to retain his secondary WBA super-middleweight title that aired on Showtime.
From the onset, Morrell (8-0, 8 KOs) was the aggressor and landed at will in the opening round on Yerbossynuly. The only thing Yerbossynuly (16-1,11 KOs) offered was moments of correct name pronunciations by Mauro Ranallo in the opening round of the broadcast. As the second round neared close, the hand speed difference looked miles faster from Morrell, and Yerbossynuly was only offering professional resistance. The game plan that Yerbossynuly was to try to smother Morrell inside, but Morrell’s defense was not letting that happen. As the third round was closing, Yerbossynuly’s face reflected the work done by Morrell’s attack.
Yerbossynuly’s output in this fight differed from his usual pace in other fights. Mainly because of what Morrell was doing in the ring. Morrell looked to rip off combinations early and often against Yerbossynuly, which he did. Morrell was more fluid as the contest continued and created angles around Yerbossynuly to fire off combinations. While there were no knockdowns in this fight, Morrell looked to fight at a slower pace than the second half than the first but was well in control of the title defense. The tenth round looked to be the end as the crowd sensed this would have been the end for Yerbossynuly. It was not, and the fight continued.
The final round, however, was when Yerbossynuly was knocked down twice by Morrell. The first knockdown early in the round came from a straight left that floored Yerbossynuly. The last knockdown by a nice right hook came by Morrell and referee Tony Weeks called the end of this bout.
It was a good win and systematic breakdown for the 24-year-old Morrell over a durable Yerbossynuly. Yerbossynuly, after the bout, was taken to the hospital for observation.
Mendoza Upsets Rosario
Late replacement Brian Mendoza (21-2,15 KOs) came ready and upset former unified super welterweight champion Jeison Rosario (23-4-1, 17 KOs) in the co-main event with a five-round stoppage. The official time of the stoppage to the middleweight contest was 35 seconds in round five.
Mendoza looked to be the more active middleweight early in this contest by jabbing into Rosario and then following with hooks to the body. The activeness was displayed as Rosario went down from a left to the body late in the second round. Rosario beat the referee’s count, and the fight pressed on. Rosario started picking up the pace in the third round as he looked to corner Mendoza towards the ropes behind his jab. The fifth round was the last one as Mendoza sent Rosario down to the canvas with an uppercut in the fifth, and Rosario was in no shape to continue, and this fight was over.
Mendoza speaking after the win, had the funniest quote of the night. Speaking with Jim Gray postfight, Mendoza thanked the Minnesota crowd by shouting, “Thank You, Mississippi!” which resounded with a smattering of boos. He corrected his geographical error at the end of the interview.Rosario, after this loss, stated that he was retiring from the sport. (Editor’s Note: Brian Custer announced that Rosario is retiring.)
Czerkaszyn Decisons Gallimore
Fiodor Czerkaszyn made his Showtime debut and opened the broadcast by defeating Nathaniel Gallimore by unanimous decision. The judge’s scorecards favored Czerkaszyn (97-93, 99-91, 100-90) in an impressive middleweight outing. Gallimore (22-6-1, 17 KOs) was coming off a sixteen-month layoff, new self-management, and a majority decision win over Leon Lawson III, a weight class smaller. Czerkaszyn (21-0, 13 KOs), once the bell rang, was looking to control the pace behind his jab and range over the defensive-minded Gallimore.
The action picked up a bit in the third round of this one as Gallimore looked to increase his output from the first two rounds. Czerkaszyn, however, was able to counter effectively when he would come in. This frustration was starting to show on Gallimore as the fourth marched on. Czerkaszyn was still peppering him with combinations. Gallimore looked to rough up the fight pressing in as the fight went on, but that did not seem to work either.
Czerkaszyn could either counter with power shots or time Gallimore with the jab. As the fight went the complete ten rounds, it was clear that no matter what Gallimore tried, Czerkaszyn always had an answer. Czerkaszyn was throwing from all angles and, in the later rounds, displayed some nice uppercuts to go along with the body attack but was levels better than the game and durable Gallimore. Czerkaszyn, in the end, landed 53 percent (190-357) of his body shots and at a 42 percent clip (227-536) in total punches.
Showtime made note that Saturday, December 17, Michel Rivera-Frank Martin will be in a lightweight title eliminator bout. Where at and what time will be announced at a later date.
