MANCHESTER, England -- David Morrell suffered a huge upset defeat to Zak Chelli on Saturday, losing by a Round 10 knockout.
Morrell was heavy favourite going into the fight which he took at late notice after his scheduled bout with Callum Smith, which was supposed to take place in Liverpool last month, was cancelled after Smith withdrew injured.
With his only previous defeat coming against David Benavidez on points last year and nine knockouts on his resume, Morrell (12-2, 9 KOs) was expected to deal with Chelli (17-3-1, 9 KOs) relatively easily but soon came unstuck.
Chelli made life difficult for Morrell from the early stages, boxing well and working the jab, not allowing the Cuban to find any rhythm.
It was a close fight until the closing stages of Round 9 when Chelli clocked Morrell with a huge right hand. Morrell was hurt and forced back into the ropes.
He did well to survive the final 20 seconds of the round and was ultimately saved by the bell.
It looked for a second like Morrell may have recovered, but Chelli landed again and this time didn't relent with plenty of time left in Round 10 to finish the job. He let his hands go and executed a brilliant combination which forced the referee to intervene.