Nielsen, Cox and Sirotkin lost but Saunders won, meaning it may have been an ability gap rather than a stance advantage. Think this result entirely depends on the quality of Morrell, a real ceiling check.
Barely, you know I love Billy Joe, but of all of the opponent's he's faced, the only one with a genuine argument that he beat him, is Ryder. I scored it 115-113 Saunders, but the first time I saw it I had it a draw, 115-113 Ryder is perfectly acceptable as well.
Saunders did (and sometimes still does) have a propensity for dropping rounds in fights he easily could have swept due to his gas tank. Felt he showed that he was more skilled than Ryder for certain and exposed his weakness against slick movers early on. Ryder still showed his quality too, but he's not on Saunders' level either. Morrell can certainly capitalise on his length, slickness and power to keep Ryder at bay. He's no one dimensional and sluggish Smith, I'll tell you that. That jab of Morrell's in particular is very active and quick, which seemed to be the main thing troubling Ryder whenever Smith used his, which is much slower and much less active.
This is a great test for Morrell. I think he'll win, but if he's not as good as he's looked against lesser opponents that weakness will get exposed. It's all risk for Ryder. If he wins, Morrell may just fade away. If he loses, it may take a couple years for people to accept it's no great shame to lose to Morrell. Tough situation for him.
That's a distinct possibility. But I also think Morrell is a little too eager to engage, and if he doesn't fight the perfect fight, with spot on defense, he's going to walk into that game changing right hook, just like all of the other southpaws that faced him. Also, remember, Sirotkin came in prepared and fought in the orthodox stance for the first half of the fight, and Saunders was rocked a few times against Ryder, he hid it well, but was shook up regardless.
Beating someone like Ryder in his 5th fight would be massively impressive. I doubt Hearn would put up any roadblocks to Ryder fighting on Showtime. As solid a pro as he is, its not like the Matchroom brand is built around him
