English light heavyweight Callum Smith suffered a recent training injury and his main event set for April 18th against Cuban born contender David Morrell is now off.
Callum Smith’s planned return to the ring has been postponed after the WBO interim light heavyweight titleholder suffered an injury in training, forcing the cancellation of his scheduled April 18 main event bout against David Morrell. The fight was set to headline the Matchroom Boxing card at the M&S Bank Arena in Smith’s hometown of Liverpool, England and be broadcasted on DAZN.
The announcement came just one day before Morrell was expected to depart for England for another significant battle in his career at 175 lb.
While Smith's camp and Matchroom officials did not publicly confirm the exact nature of the injury, sources close to the event told insider Dan Rafael that Smith sustained a rib injury during training camp last week.
The 36 year old member of the popular Smith boxing family is 31-2, 22 KOs, and was last in the ring in February 2025, when he defeated fellow countryman Joshua Buatsi to gain the WBO interim belt. Russian Dmitry Bivol holds the full championship, for now. And, Smith was looking at the Morrell matchup to lead to one more shot at a full world title.
Despite the setback to the main event, Matchroom has confirmed that the card will proceed as planned. And, rising light heavyweight prospect Ben Whittaker will now take center stage, as his 10-round bout against Braian Suarez—originally scheduled as the co-feature—has been elevated to the headline position.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn released a statement Monday afternoon,
“Naturally, it is a massive blow to lose a mega fight so close to the event and we wish Callum a speedy recovery,” Hearn said. “But the show goes on, headlined by arguably one of the greatest showmen in the sport today in Ben Whittaker. He is box office in whatever city in the world he is fighting in.”
The 28 year old Whittaker was a 2020 British Olympic Silver Medalist and will fight the second fight since signing with Matchroom Boxing late last year. He's 10-0-1, 7 KOs, and had his first fight with the promotion in November scoring a first-round KO of Benjamin Gavazi.
If Whittaker gets his expected win, Rafael reported that he could make his United States debut on the undercard of unified junior middleweight titlist Xander Zayas’ defense against Jaron “Boots” Ennis on June 27th at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Finally, at this stage, it remains unclear whether Smith’s bout with Morrell will be rescheduled.?
Under WBO regulations, Matchroom has 10 days to secure a new date for the fight, which must take place within a 90-day window. Additionally, Smith is required to submit a certified medical report to the WBO within 10 days, outlining his diagnosis, expected recovery timeline, and anticipated return to competition.
Meanwhile, Morrell, the 28 year old, hard punching Cuban born contender has a 12-1 record and is coming off a narrow split decision over Imam Khataev in an action packed fight in July. Morrell, who lives and trains in Minnesota, lost a decision challenging the former WBC interim light heavyweight titlist David Benavidez in February 2025.