Zak Chelli knows the odds are against him on Saturday night.
In Manchester, England, at the Co-op Live Arena on the Fabio Wardley-Daniel Dubois undercard, Chelli will face quality Cuban David Morrell Jnr in a fight that could see him leapfrog the 175lbs rankings.
The West Londoner Chelli had hoped to be drafted in as a late replacement when Morrell’s scheduled opponent in Liverpool last month, Callum Smith, was forced to withdraw.
“The pressure is off for everyone watching, but [it’s] on me,” Chelli told BoxingScene. “There’s always going to be pressure. And I like the pressure because I need to prove to myself and prove to everyone else that I’ve been boxing all my life and I’m not going to let it go to waste on one night. I’m going to show everyone that, and God willing, inshallah, I will win.”
Chelli, who has had nearly a year out since a 10-round stoppage victory over Adam Hepple, said the best version of him that the public has seen came in victory over Anthony Sims back in February 2023. Sims has not boxed since Chelli handed him a 10-round defeat. Chelli compares his mindset for this fight to that night at Wembley Arena.
“Anthony Sims had 23 fights, one loss, with 21 knockouts, and he was deemed to be the next big thing,” Chelli recalled. “They even, like, already signed a two-fight deal with him for him to fight Liam Smith after me. But I derailed their plans, and once again, inshallah, I’ll derail their plans. I was ready for the 18th of April [to jump in on the Smith show], so I’m always in shape, always ready. Always ready to fight and bring a spectacular show.”
But Morrell has been in a few crackers, too. He rebounded from his loss to David Benavidez with a narrow win over Imam Khataev.
“I’m starting to watch them now,” Chelli said of his opponent’s back catalog. “But Benavidez, I saw clips of it. It’s a great, great, great back-and-forth between them. And his last fight, I think he’s embarrassed of it, because you can’t find nothing about it on social media. So maybe he believed deep down he lost that fight, because he did get dropped.”
Chelli is 16-3-1 (8 KOs), having turned pro in 2017. He believes he is more than ready for the opportunity.
He certainly brought a good amateur pedigree with him into the pros, having beaten a pair of future Olympic medalists in Ben Whittaker and Lewis Richardson in the amateurs.
“I’ve been a pro 10 years now, 10 years in September,” he explained.
“And I know how the game works. You’ve got to be patient and wait for the right opportunity to come, and always train. Maybe [Morrell] took me thinking, ‘No, I've been out for over a year, nearly a year, and I’m not training,’ but I think he’s underestimating me.”
Chelli also says not much can be taken from his losses to the likes of Mark Jeffers and Callum Simpson.
“What I’ve learned [from the defeats] is about the mindset,” he said.
“Your mindset has to be right. You can train as hard as you want, [but] your mindset has to be right. And the team behind you has to be right as well. Obviously, it’s a good thing that I’ve got so much experience in boxing and I know how to make things right. And I’m back training with my dad. Things have been put in place. I’m back living in Fulham. It's more comfortable for me mentally. My wife and kids are all happy. And, mentally, I’m ready to fight and in a good position.”
Change was forced on Chelli because his father had to go and look after Chelli’s grandmother. That was before his British title defense against Simpson, and he said other elements were at play that fight week.
“It’s the things that happen behind the scenes, with contract issues and that,” Chellii added. “And then, even, when the promotion is not on your side and they’re doing things against you. Obviously, I’m not going to get into it too much – it’s the past. But I’ve learned a lot from that as well, and [there are] a lot of snakes in the game. So that’s what you need to know.”
But Chelli is a man looking now at what is ahead of him this weekend.
He knows he would take a considerable jump over his domestic rivals with victory.
“It would put me playing with the big boys – not just British level, world level,” he added.
“And that’s what I want to prove to people, where I’m at.”
Does that mean he has no intention of renewing hostilities with Simpson, who has gone on to lose to Troy Williamson?
“I think he's lost a bit of momentum with Troy Williamson. He’s still super middleweight, I’m light heavy now,” Chelli stated. “I'm looking for bigger, better things. I’m fighting a former world champion. And I’m going to prove that I can beat a former world champion. So, yeah, with that fight, I mean, if he gets up to light heavyweight and [if] he [Simpson] achieves something big, then why not?”
Chelli, still just 28, is hoping a win over Morrell will attract the big names into fights with him, but for now everything starts and finishes on Saturday.
“My dream fight is on the 9th of May,” he said. “And that’d be my dream victory as well. I’m going to put on a great show.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
