Promoter Eddie Hearn says the David Morrell vs. Callum Smith fight will likely happen in early 2026 in Saudi Arabia.
Hearn states that he spoke with Turki Alalshikh about the fight and that they “pretty much agreed’ to place the Morrell-Smith fight on one of the cards in early 2026 in Saudi Arabia.
The WBO ordered the fight between interim 175-lb champion Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) and #2 Morrell (12-1, 9 KOs) on July 21, 2025, with the idea to keep their belt active.
A Brutal Test for Callum
It’s a tough fight for Callum, 35, who is coming off a grueling 12-round unanimous decision win over Joshua Buatsi earlier this year on February 22. Going from that hard fight into what could be an even tougher one against the Cuban Morrell won’t be easy.
“I talked to His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh] about staging that as part of a Saudi card in early 2026,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Ring Magazine about the David Morrell vs. Callum Smith fight.
“We’ve pretty much agreed to that, and that’s a tremendous fight, a brilliant fight. Yeah, I think you’ll see that fight land in Saudi hopefully in early 2026.”
Smith was hoping to fight for a world title against IBF, WBA, and WBO light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. However, he’s out of action following his recent back surgery in August 2025. Bivol won’t be back for the remainder of the year until 2026.
Morrell, 27, defeated 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Imam Khataev by a 10-round split decision last summer on July 12 in Queens, New York. That was a peculiar fight, in which Morrell fought in spurts and showed off at times.
Morrell’s Lapses Against Khataev
Khataev took advantage of Morrell’s lapse of concentration to drop him in the fifth round. That was a round in which Morrell had been dominating. After that knockdown, Morrell stayed dialed in the remainder of the fight to win a decision.
It’s going to be harder for Morrell against the 6’3″ Smith of his height and his aggressive style of fighting. He’s going to have to stay focused at all times if he doesn’t want to fall behind and get knocked out.
Last Updated on 10/03/2025
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