There are rare occasions when a pro fighter is able to hold a world title four fights in to their career, but David Morell is currently one of those fighters. On Sunday, Morell was featured as the headliner to a card against Mario Cazares who is known for getting a win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last year. While Cazares had an undefeated record, Morrell was the more decorated fighter coming from him being a national champion in the amateurs.

The difference showed on Sunday as Morrell landed a power shot to put Cazares on the canvas in the first round and Cazares stayed there for the full count by referee Mark Nelson to give David Morrell a knockout victory and him keeping the WBA super middleweight title. He is now 5-0 in his professional career and handed Cazares his first pro loss. Morrell was able to gauge distance between him and Cazares and land a few punches while Cazares often found himself in clinches before he was able to get his offense going. There was a point where Cazares had hit Morrell on the belt line which forced a slight pause in the action but Morrell was not affected by it. He moved forward and landed a couple of body shots in close quarters, then with 38 seconds left Morrell landed a combination to stun Cazares before a left hand finished off the fight.

The 23 year old southpaw was surprised that the fight ended early. “I didn’t expect that to end so quickly,” said Morrell. “I thought it would be more like a five or six round fight. However, once Cazares stepped in the ring, I noticed that he was not ready to fight on my level. He wasn’t ready for this kind of test or this level of fight.”

As far as the knockout was concerned, he felt like he took advantage of the opening that was available to him. “When I saw the opening, I took him out. When I hit him, I saw his legs wobble and I knew he was gone, completely out.”

Morrell made a statement with this win and it gives him confidence that he can compete with the top guys in the super middleweight division.

“I’m ready for anyone at 168 pounds and now the world can see it,” continued Morrell. “I would love to fight Caleb Plant. I’m ready to fight Plant. He’s an excellent boxer, but I’m ready to go.”

FIGHT CARD NOTES: In the co-feature bout, Brandon Glanton defeated Efetobor Apochi by split decision as judges Mike Fitzgerald and John Mariano scored the contest 95-94 in favor of him while Nelson Vazquez scored the bout 96-93 for Apochi. It was a back and forth fight as both fighters landed nearly the same amount of punches through 6 rounds until Glanton landed a left hand while Apochi was on the ropes and then a right forced referee Gary Miezwa to start a standing eight count while it looked like Apochi was out on his feet. The fight continued as Apochi was able to get back in it and did stagger Glanton at the end of the fight. When it completed the punch stats were basically even, which led to the judges having close scores.

“I knew it was a close fight because at the very end he didn’t hurt me, but I staggered,” said Glanton. “Thank God the judges saw it the right way.”

All Rivera beat Omar Juarez by majority decision as judge Octavio Rodriguez scored the bout 95-94 for Rivera and judge Kyle Shiely scored the fight 95-93 for him as well, with Scott Erickson scoring it a draw at 95. Juarez had been successful for most of the fight landing more shots but a counter left by Rivera put Juarez to the canvas in the ninth which ended up being the difference in the scorecards. As a result, Juarez suffers the first loss of his career (11-1) and Rivera now has 22 wins in his career.

 “Juárez was doing good work in there, but we were landing the more effective shots,” Rivera said after his win. “I definitely think my experience played a difference tonight.”

Cover photo by Sean Michael Ham of TGB Promotions