A product of London, England, Zak Chelli made his boxing debut at the age of 19, as he defeated Jacob Lucas by way of technical decision. Chelli would go on to win his next six fights.
On September 14, 2019, Zak Chelli suffered his first professional defeat when he lost to Kody Davies via unanimous decision. Eleven months later, Chelli stepped back inside the ring and posted a split-decision draw against Jack Cullen.
Chelli would proceed to go on a four-fight win streak. Chelli was going for five in a row, and he succeeded when he beat Germaine Brown and won the English super-middleweight title.
Chelli had one successful title defense before losing the belt to Mark Jeffers. Five months later, in a rematch against Jack Cullen, back in January 2024, Chelli outpointed Cullen, and as a result, he won the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles.
Recently, a much-anticipated April 2026 bout between highly rated David Morrell and the WBO interim light-heavyweight champ Callum Smith was scheduled to take place in Liverpool. Unfortunately, Smith withdrew due to a training injury.
However, David Morrell was presented with another opportunity to make his boxing debut in the UK. On May 9, 2026, David Morrell traveled to Manchester, England, to face Zak Chelli.
Boxing is a sport that’s based on levels, and during the first half of the fight, the southpaw David Morrell demonstrated how he was a level above Zak Chelli. During the second half of the bout, Chelli had his moments, but Morrell was in complete control.
The turning point of the fight occurred with 20 seconds remaining in the ninth round, when Chelli landed a hard right hand, which stunned Morrell. For the next nineteen seconds, Chelli hit Morrell with a constant flurry of punches.
At the 2:26 mark of the 10th round, Chelli hurt Morrell once again when he landed a big left-hand shot. In the final 40 seconds of round 10, Chelli connected with a six-punch combination, which forced the referee to step in and stop the contest.
David Morrell (12-2, 9 KOs) lost the first fight of his career back in February 2025 to pound-for-pound star David Benavidez. On Saturday night, May 9, Morrell lost his second bout to Zak Chelli, a supply teacher who specializes in math and science.
Zak Chelli (17-3-1, 9 KOs) earned the luxury of having a dream become a reality as he defeated a former two-division champion. With his confidence at an all-time high, Chelli called out a man who’s at the top of the food chain.
“Morrell did pretty good with Benavidez didn’t he?” Chelli said. “And I did better, so why not? I can most definitely become world champion.”
Zak Chelli just posted the biggest win of his pro career, and he’s ready to proceed to the next step. Chelli probably won’t get the Benavidez fight, but at least the educator was able to capitalize on the opportunity to teach David Morrell a valuable lesson.
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