David Morrell looks to defend one of the few secondary WBA titles left in circulation.

The unbeaten WBA “World” super middleweight titlist faces Alantez Fox atop a televised tripleheader airing live Saturday evening on Fox TV from The Armory in Morrell’s hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both boxers made weight for their scheduled 12-round affair.

Morrell (5-0, 4KOs)–a 23-year-old Cuban southpaw who relocated to Minneapolis prior to turning pro in 2019—weighed 167 pounds. Fox (28-2-1, 13KOs)—a 6’4” super middleweight from Upper Marlboro, Maryland—weighed 167.4 pounds for his first shot at any version of a major title.

The bout marks the third appearance at The Armory for Morrell, who turned pro at this venue in August 2019 and headlined a PBC on Fox show here in his most recent start. Both of his previous fights on site ended in first-round knockouts, including a 123-second blitzing of unbeaten Mario Cazares on June 27.

Morrell aims to defend his version of the WBA super middleweight title for the second time since winning the belt in a twelve-round, unanimous decision over undefeated Lennox Allen last August in Los Angeles. Morrell was able to survive the cut following the WBA’s efforts to reduce its number of recognized titlists which began this past August.

The sanctioning body mandate has led to the elimination of all “interim” titles and with a number of title consolidation fights and mandatory defenses ordered in the past several months. There was not a pathway for Morrell to have to go through either, due to the lack of interest expressed by prior mandatory John Ryder as well as the unavailability of WBA “Super” champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (57-1-2, 39KOs) who has since fully unified the division

Interestingly, the title reduction policy was put into play shortly after Mykal Fox, Alantez’s younger brother was blatantly robbed in a bid for the WBA “interim” welterweight title. The scandal took place in this very arena, with the younger Fox dropping a highly questionable twelve-round decision to Venezuela’s Gabriel Maestre (4-0, 3KOs) in the August 7 PBC on Fox TV co-feature.

Alantez Fox has enjoyed far greater memories here, claiming a seventh-round stoppage win over Manny Woods on the undercard of Morrell-Cazares in June. Fox also appeared on the undercard of a December 26 PBC on Fox card headlined by Morrell, having outpointed Marcos Hernandez over ten rounds.

Saturday’s televised co-feature pits unbeaten lightweight prospect Jose Valenzuela of Los Mochis, Mexico versus Hendersonville, Tennessee native Austin Dulay. Valenzuela (10-0, 6KOs) weighed 134.6 pounds, while Dulay (14-2, 10KOs) was 134.8 pounds for the scheduled ten-round bout.

Opening the three-fight telecast, Dominican Republic’s Alberto Puello (19-0, 10KOs) weighed 142.4 pounds for his scheduled 10-round bout with Minneapolis’ Ve Shawn Owens (13-2, 12KOs), who weighed 143 pounds, right at the contracted limit. Puello is a former WBA interim junior welterweight titlist who is now a mandatory contender to undisputed champion Josh Taylor.

Below are the weights for the FS1 preliminary lead-in card.

Richardson Hitchins (12-0, 5KOs), Brooklyn, 143.4 pounds vs. Malik Hawkins (18-1, 11KOs), Baltimore, 143.2 pounds—10 rds, junior welterweight (144-pound contracted limit)

Hector Garcia (13-0, 10KOs), San Juan de la Managua, Mexico, 129.4 pounds vs. Isaac Avelar (16-3, 10KOs), Aguascalientes, Mexico, 129.4 pounds—8 rds, junior lightweight

Suray Mahmutovic (3-0, 3KOs), San Francisco, 173.8 pounds vs. Pachino Hill (6-0, 5KOs), Davenport, Iowa, 173.4 pounds—light heavyweight swing bout (4 or 6 rds, depending on airtime)

Below are the weights for the remaining non-televised undercard bouts.

Anthony Sims Jr. (21-1, 19KOs), 167 pounds vs. Manny Woods (17-14-1, 6KOs), Saint Petersburg, Florida, 167.6 pounds—8 rds, super middleweight

Adrian Benton (5-0, 3KOs), Cincinnati, 139.4 pounds vs. Raymond Chacon (8-44-1, 0KOs), Northridge, California, 139.6 pounds—6 rds, junior welterweight

Breeon Carothers Jr. (1-0, 1KO), Racine, Wisconsin, 135 pounds vs. Deljerro Revellow (0-2, 0KOs), Maricopa, Arizona, 136 pounds—4 rds, lightweight (137-pound contracted limit)

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox