{"id":229207,"date":"2025-07-01T11:49:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T11:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/229207\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T11:49:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T11:49:11","slug":"im-coming-to-hurt-something-david-morrells-intense-motivation-for-imam-khataev-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/229207\/","title":{"rendered":"“I’m Coming To Hurt Something”: David Morrell’s Intense Motivation For Imam Khataev Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Morrell says his loss to David Benavidez \u201cwoke me up\u201d, and he\u2019s motivated for his redemption fight against Imam Khataev at light heavyweight on July 12th in Queens, New York.<\/p>\n

Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) has worked on the mistakes he made against Benavidez, and is ready to show a new version of himself against the unbeaten 2020 Olympian Khataev (10-0, 9 KOs) in their 10-round undercard fight on DAZN PPV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Morrell\u2019s \u201cWoke Me Up\u201d Statement<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLosing that fight to Benavidez woke me up. I\u2019m coming to hurt something,\u201d said Morrell.<\/p>\n

If Morrell can score a knockout of Khataev, that would be impressive, because he\u2019s seen as the next Beterbiev in the eyes of some people. He has the power and the amateur pedigree to be a difficult opponent for Morrell.<\/p>\n

Khataev Visa Issues Impact Fight?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t work for immigration. My manager didn\u2019t call me and say anything. So, I\u2019m working,\u201d said David Morrell to Fighthype<\/a>, reacting to being told that there are reports that his opponent, Imam Khataev, is having visa problems and might not be able to get into the U.S for their fight on July 12th. \u201cI don\u2019t know what happened with him.<\/p>\n

If Khataev can\u2019t enter the country, Turki Alalshikh will need to find a replacement quickly for Morrell. There are only 12 days before July 12th, and that doesn\u2019t leave enough time to find a solid replacement.<\/p>\n

It would be great if one of the super middleweights could move up to face Morrell if Khataev is unable to fight on that date. The light heavyweight division is lacking in quality fighters once you get past the top three or four fighters.<\/p>\n

Rematch with Benavidez or Bivol\/Beterbiev?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m one of the youngest guys,\u201d said Morrell when asked if he\u2019d like to fight a rematch with David Benavidez or the winner of the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev trilogy.<\/p>\n

Benavidez isn\u2019t going to be in a hurry to fight Morrell again after the punishment he took in that fight. He looked like he\u2019d gotten the worst of it at the end. If Morrell makes a few adjustments by increasing his punch output, he\u2019ll likely stop Benavidez because he has the better punching power.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve fought only twice in this division, and I\u2019ve shown the world that I belong right there with those names. I\u2019m more than willing to go up against any of those guys. I\u2019m confident, I\u2019ll put up a good fight, and I belong at the top with those names,\u201d said Morrell.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unlikely that Morrell will get a chance to fight the winner of the Bivol vs. Beterbiev fight. David Benavidez is next in line. However, if Morrell looks good in beating Imam Khataev and gets another solid win under his belt, he\u2019ll be in a position to challenge for a world title.<\/p>\n

Bivol and Beterbiev are getting old. Neither is expected to stay around for much longer. If Morrell can\u2019t get a shot at one of the two before they retire, he\u2019ll still be able to fight for the titles once they\u2019re vacated. That could mean a rematch against Benavidez.<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb \u201cI\u2019m Coming to Hurt Something\u201d: David Morrell\u2019s Intense Motivation for Imam Khataev Fight<\/p>\n

Last Updated on 06\/30\/2025 \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Morrell says his loss to David Benavidez \u201cwoke me up\u201d, and he\u2019s motivated for his redemption fight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4108],"tags":[82969,1935,12509,556,4332,4331,62894,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-229207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-bmo-stadium","9":"tag-boxing","10":"tag-fight-night","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-mark-robinson","13":"tag-matchroom-boxing","14":"tag-riydah-season","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114777827894167030","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}