Source: Yerbossynuly in coma after 12th-round knockout loss to Morrell
Super middleweight had taken beating, was way behind on cards
A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.
As soon as super middleweight Aidos Yerbossynuly rose after being knocked out in the 12th round on Saturday night he was unsteady.
When he staggered backward and fell into the ropes, David Morrell, who moments earlier had brutally knocked him out to retain the WBA “regular” super middleweight title in the PBC/Showtime main event at The Armory in Minneapolis, rushed to his aid and helped keep him from falling to the ground.
Morrell and referee Tony Weeks then assisted him to his corner, where he sat on his stool and received immediate medical attention from the ringside doctor.
Yerbossynuly, who had taken a bad beating from Morrell, was then transported to Hennepin County Medical Center for evaluation, where he remained hospitalized Sunday night in a medically induced coma due to bleeding on the brain, a source with knowledge of the situation told Fight Freaks Unite.
Another source involved in the event was unsure of Yerbossynuly’s specific condition but said, “He is not good. I don’t have a lot of information, only that he is hurt pretty bad.”
The hospital said it was not permitted to discuss Yerbossynuly’s condition.
“Representatives of TGB Promotions and PBC are on the ground in Minneapolis with Aidos’ team and we are monitoring the situation closely,” PBC and TGB Promotions, which promoted the card, said in a joint statement given to Fight Freaks Unite on Sunday night. “Out of respect for he and his family’s privacy, we can’t share any details but we ask the boxing community to keep him in its thoughts and prayers.”
Showtime, which reported near the end of its telecast that Yerbossynuly had been taken to the hospital, said in a statement given to Fight Freaks Unite, “We continue to monitor the situation with Aidos Yerbossynuly and our thoughts are with him and his loved ones at this time.”
Yerbossynuly (16-1, 11 KOs), 30, of Kazakhstan, a professional since 2015 and boxing in the United States for third time, knocked out Lennox Allen in his previous fight in September 2021 to become the mandatory challenger for Morrell’s second-tier 168-pound world title and came to Cuba native Morrell’s adopted hometown to challenge him for the belt.
It was a hard-hitting and grueling fight but Yerbossynuly was on the receiving end of most of the punishment. The southpaw Morrell, who was much faster and a bigger puncher, battered him throughout the bout. While Yerbossynuly showed enormous toughness he was outclassed and appeared to have suffered a broken nose early in the bout.
Morrell finally knocked him down with a clean straight left hand in the 12th round. Weeks later deducted a point from Yerrbossynuly for excessive holding as he tried to avoid Morrell’s follow-up attack.
But with about 40 seconds remaining in the 12th round Morrell landed a damaging left to the head and followed with a tremendous right hook flush on the chin that dropped Yerrbossynuly flat on his back.
He sat up quickly and got to his feet but Weeks waved off the fight at 2 minutes, 34 seconds without counting as the unsteady Yerrbossynuly fell backward into the ropes.
Morrell (8-0, 7 KOs), 24, who was making his fourth title defense, led by a shutout score of 110-99 on two scorecards and was up 108-101 on the third scorecard despite Yerrbossynuly’s corner apparently believing their man was in the fight based on what they were telling him between rounds.
According to CompuBox statistics, Morrell landed 237 of 607 punches (39 percent), including 167 of 354 of his power shots (47 percent). Yerrbossynuly landed 82 of 535 punches (15 percent). Morrell landed double-digit punches in every round and Yerrbossynuly landed in single digits in every round except for the fifth round, when he landed 16 blows.
Morrell had predicted he would score an eighth-round knockout and explained his perspective on the knockout during his post-fight Showtime interview, unaware that Yerrbossynuly, who had served as a Canelo Alvarez sparring partner, would soon be hospitalized.
“I’m so excited, man. I told everyone at the press conference that the fight is mine,” Morrell said. “I saw he was hurt at that moment and then the results came in, that knockdown came. A knockout is a knockout, so if it’s in the eighth or 12th round, it’s a knockout anyways.”
Fight photo: Esther Lin/Showtime
Please upgrade your subscription here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe
Thank you so much for your support of Fight Freaks Unite!
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danrafael1/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRafael1
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanRafaelBoxing
Hoping Yerbossynuly will make a quick and full recovery. He fought his heart out, like the warrior he is. It wasn’t very close but the cards are misleading. It was a compelling fight and both fighters were pushed hard. Fingers crossed. If you’re the praying sort, Yerbossynuly could use some.
Any update on him?