{"id":587237,"date":"2026-05-16T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/587237\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T12:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:00:15","slug":"david-morrell-faces-fresh-questions-after-zak-chelli-knockout-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/587237\/","title":{"rendered":"David Morrell Faces Fresh Questions After Zak Chelli Knockout Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Morrell insists his career is not finished, but criticism continues growing around his move to light heavyweight<\/p>\n<p>David Morrell says his career is far from over after suffering a knockout loss to Zak Chelli, but the defeat has intensified questions about whether he should return to 168 pounds. Morrell has now lost two of his last three fights since moving to light heavyweight after beginning 2025 unbeaten.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=boxingnews24.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"208\" alt=\"Add EBoxing News 24as a preferred source on Google\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/google.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqLAgKIiZDQklTRmdnTWFoSUtFR0p2ZUdsdVoyNWxkM015TkM1amIyMG9BQVAB?ceid=US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><br \/>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"128\" alt=\"Follow Boxing News 24 on Google News\" style=\"height:100%; width:auto; display:block;\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/follow-google-news.png\"\/><br \/>\n  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis does not mean that David Morrell\u2019s career is over,\u201d said Morrell on I<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DYSPicruKdq\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">nstagram<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cWe need to take this as a lesson from everything and move on with more strength.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll be back soon and with more news for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Morrell also reassured supporters that he is recovering well after the knockout.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor those who are worried, I\u2019m fine and healthy, thank God.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA man is not measured by the times he falls, but the times he gets up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the beginning of a new stage, not the end of the race.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The loss to Chelli added to growing criticism surrounding Morrell\u2019s move to 175 pounds. Since moving up from super middleweight in August 2024, Morrell entered 2025 unbeaten but has now lost two of his last three fights since moving to light heavyweight.<\/p>\n<p>Morrell was dropped during his split decision win over previously unbeaten Imam Khataev last July before losing to David Benavidez and then being stopped by Zak Chelli.<\/p>\n<p>Boxing analyst Chris Mannix was among those suggesting Morrell may need to rebuild at super middleweight after the loss.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old Cuban now holds a record of 12-2 with 9 knockouts after entering 2025 unbeaten and viewed as one of boxing\u2019s most dangerous young contenders.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"182\" data-end=\"497\">Dan Ambrose is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24, recognized for his direct analysis and extensive coverage of the global fight landscape. His reporting focuses on major bouts, divisional developments, and the sport\u2019s most discussed storylines.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/boxingnews24.substack.com\/subscribe\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to subscribe to our FREE newsletter<\/a>Related Boxing News:<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tCategories <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boxingnews24.com\/boxer\/david-morrell-jr\/\" rel=\"category tag nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">David Morrell Jr<\/a> \t\t<\/p>\n<p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boxingnews24.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boxingnews24.com\/boxer\/david-morrell-jr\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">David Morrell Jr<\/a> \u00bb David Morrell Says Career Isn\u2019t Over After Zak Chelli Knockout<\/p>\n<p>Last Updated on 2026\/05\/16 at 5:53 AM \t<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morrell insists his career is not finished, but criticism continues growing around his move to light heavyweight David&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-587237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}