Ron Harris (Minneapolis, Minn.) – DC Native Alantez Fox was fighting for the World Boxing Association super middle weight title against a fighter with a modest 5-0 record. However, David Morrell, Jr. has an extensive amateur record coming from the Cuban boxing factory.  He improved to 6-0 with a 4^th round TKO of Fox in a lopsided fight from the opening bell.  The fight took place at the Armory in Minneapolis.

Fox (28-3-1) tried to establish his very good jab, but nothing was hurting Morrell.  Southpaw, Morrell, was landing heavy blows that were knocking Fox off balance all night.  The first 3 rounds were given to Morrell, and he seemed to be enjoying hitting Fox, as he smiled several times. 

In round 4, Morrell picked up the pace and pinned Fox on the ropes.  Both fighters clinched and Morrell caught Fox with a short, maybe 6 inches, left to the head and he went down.  Referee, Mark Nelson, kept a close eye on Fox as he got up and tried to hold on.  Morrell continued to unload and then things went wild.  Troy Fox, the father, and trainer of Alantez came up to the ropes and was yelling for the attention of the referee.  Referee, Nelson, did not hear Troy at first, but Alantez did.  Alantez could be heard saying “no, no”.  Suddenly, a towel came in from the other corner, which is quite unusual.  Morrell’s trainer, the great Ronnie Shields, must have seen how desperate Troy Fox was to get the attention of Nelson, he decided to toss the towel into the ring.  Nelson finally saw Troy and called the end of the fight.  What would have happened if the referee had seen the towel come in from Morrell’s corner?  He may have given the fight to Fox, thinking Morrell’s corner saw something bad happening to their fighter. 

“I thought I won the first round and in the second round I knew he was going to come out aggressively,” said Fox. “So I was trying to move and make it tough on him. We were holding each other on the inside and he came with a good shot that dazed me. I was upset that the fight was stopped, but I know that my team has my best interest at heart.”

Morrell, who now living in Minneapolis, has his sites on the other champions at 168 pounds.  “I respect everybody in the super middle weight division, but I want to fight all of them,” said Morrell.  “I’ve got this belt now and I am open to fighting any of them.  They have to just step up.”

Another DC native was fighting at the same time as Fox.  Fox was fighting for a belt, while Lamont Roach, Jr is hoping to fight for one in the coming year.  Roach had to take care of a tough former champ in Rene Alvarado.  Roach fights as a Jr Light weight (130 lbs.) and is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.  He won a unanimous decision at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas to improve his record to 22-1-1.  Roach said after his last fight that he is a full-fledged contender and will no longer be fighting up and comers.  He will only fight former champs and champions from here on out.  He had his sites on Alvarado for several months. He told Boxing Scene.com, “He’s been on my radar, I want to say, since 2015,” said Roach. “We were on the same Fox Sports show in Philadelphia.  He’s always had the reputation for taking on tough opponents, even back then.  I’ve wanted him for a while and especially when he was still world champion.”

Alvarado (32-11) gave Roach a tough 10 round fight, with both fighters throwing and taking bombs.  Roach has remade his body and he looks like an Adonis.  There was not a lot of movement, just combinations from Roach that Alvarado took in stride.  The judges scored the fight, 100-90 and 98-92, twice, all for Roach.  Roach has set himself up for a championship fight in 2022. 

Photo Credit:  Fox v Morrell; Roach v Alvarado; by Sean Michael Ham