David Morrell says he “feels bad” for his opponent, Imam Khataev, receiving a two-year ban from the International Testing Agency (ITA) for an anti-doping rule violation. Khataev (10-0, 9 KOs) will still be fighting the former two-division world champion Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) in a 10-round light heavyweight contest this Saturday, July 12th, at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.

The Cuban talent Morrell is glad the fight is still on for Saturday because he wants to perform, and has gone through a long training camp to prepare for the top-10 ranked contender Khataev.

It’s Morrell’s first fight back since losing his WBA ‘regular’ 175-lb title to David Benavidez last February. He wants to demonstrate that he has improved. Morrell says he changed his personality after that loss and will be a different fighter.

Khataev’s Pressure

We’ll see, because Khataev is going to put the same type of pressure on Morrell that Benavidez did, and he’ll do it right away. Khataev shares similarities with Artur Beterbiev in his attacking style and power. We don’t know if he can withstand Morrell’s formidable power if he’s truly changed his fighting style as he says.

“My last fight, I changed my personality a lot for this one. So, that’ll never happen again,” said David Morrell to Boxing Social about his plans on fighting with more aggression after his loss to David Benavidez.

Morrell’s New Fighting Style

Morrell is going to have to change his style for him to win on Saturday against Khataev, and deal with boxer-punchers like Dmitry Bivol. Also, he’s going to meet up with Benavidez again eventually, and he can’t fight the same way

“I feel bad for him,” said Morrell about his opponent, Imam Khataev, being given a two-year ban for testing positive for a banned PED. “Why do you need something for a fight? It’s weird. I want to [still] fight him on Saturday night.

“I had a bad experience. What’s more important is I focused on myself,” said Morrell about his loss to Benavidez.