WBO Deadline Puts Smith Vs Morrell In Danger Of Purse Bid

WBO President Gustavo Olivieri has given WBC interim light heavyweight champion Callum Smith and David Morrell a deadline of 4 pm ET this Friday, November 14th, to succeed in a deal before he orders a handbag bid.

Smith’s Title Dream Re-Routed

Last summer, on July 21, 2025, the World Boxing Organization ordered the Callum Smith vs. David Morrell fight. The WBO’s order tousled plans for the 35-year-old Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) to fight WBC 175-lb champion David Benavidez or WBO champion Dmitry Bivol.

Smith had reportedly been in talks with Benavidez before the WBO’s order. That fight would have given Callum a shot at becoming a two-division world champion. As an alternative, Smith has to fight #2 WBA, #2 WBC, #2 WBO, and #4 IBF contender Morrell (12-1, 9 KOs).

For Smith to get a title shot now, he must defeat the Cuba-born Morrell, and that’s not going to be easy. Morrell is rather a lot younger at 27, and he’s got a brand new trainer, Abel Sanchez, who replaces Ronnie Shields. It’s Sanchez’s job to reinvent Morrell, filling within the missing ingredient needed for him to capitalize on his superior power, technique, and athletic ability to change into the #1 fighter at 175.

Morrell’s Inconsistency Problem

Morrell didn’t look impressive in his last three fights against Imam Khataev, David Benavidez, and Radivoje Kalajdzic. He lost to Benavidez by a 12-round unanimous decision earlier this 12 months on February 1st, then struggled to defeat Khataev by a controversial 10-round split decision on July 12, 2025, in Queens, Latest York.

The three fights demonstrated that Morrell has an issue with consistency in his offense and a bent to retreat to the ropes and canopy up. He can’t try this against quality fighters, as they permit him to be bombarded on.

That’s what led to Morrell getting beaten by Benavidez and coming near losing to Khataev. When Morrell was on offense in each fights, he was a nightmare for them. But then he would back up, clown, or retreat to the ropes, fighting like a sparring partner. It was strange to look at because Morrell should know higher, given his a few years in Cuba fighting against elite opposition, comparable to Julio Cesar La Cruz and Osleys Iglesias. If he fights like that against Callum Smith, he’ll get knocked out. 

“Re: WBO Interim Light Heavyweight Championship Smith/Morrell. The WBO will grant the parties until tomorrow, 4:00 p.m. (AST) to succeed in terms. Failure to accomplish that will lead to ordering purse bid proceedings,” said WBO president Gustavo Olivieri, Esq. on X concerning the Callum Smith vs. David Morrell fight.

The previous WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith defeated previously unbeaten 2016 Olympian Joshua Buatsi by a 12-round unanimous decision on February 22, 2025, in Riyadh. That was an exciting back-and-forth variety of fight that Smith pulled out by hurting Buatsi repeatedly within the championship rounds. The scores were 115-113, 119-110, and 116-112.