London-based Zak Chelli made his boxing debut at the age of 19, defeating Jacob Lucas by technical decision. Chelli won his next six fights.

On September 14, 2019, Zak Chelli suffered his first professional defeat, losing by unanimous decision to Kody Davies. Eleven months later, Chelli returned to the ring and won a split decision against Jack Cullen.

Chelli continued his streak of four straight wins. Chelli fought five times in a row and succeeded, defeating Germaine Brown to win the English super middleweight title.

Chelli had one successful title defense before losing the belt to Mark Jeffers. Five months later, in a rematch with Jack Cullen in January 2024, Chelli overtook Cullen to win the British and Commonwealth super middleweight titles.

Recently, the long-awaited April 2026 fight between highly rated David Morrell and interim WBO lithe heavyweight champion Callum Smith was scheduled to take place in Liverpool. Unfortunately, Smith withdrew due to a training injury.

However, David Morrell has been given another chance to make his boxing debut in the UK. On May 9, 2026, David Morrell traveled to Manchester, England to face Zak Chelli.

Boxing is a sport based on levels and during the first half of the fight, David Morrell showed that he is one level above Zak Chelli. In the second half of the fight, Chelli had his moments, but Morrell was in complete control.

The turning point in the fight came 20 seconds into the ninth round when Chelli landed a demanding right hand that stunned Morrell. For the next nineteen seconds, Chelli hit Morrell with a steady series of punches.

At 2:26 of the 10th round, Chelli hurt Morrell again with a demanding shot with his left hand. In the last 40 seconds of round 10, Chelli landed a six-punch combination that forced the referee to step in and stop the fight.

David Morrell (12-2, 9 KO) lost the first fight in his career in February 2025 to Pound for Pound star David Benavidez. On Saturday evening, May 9, Morrell lost his second fight to Zak Chelli, a substitute teacher specializing in math and science.

Zak Chelli (17-3-1, 9 KO) earned the luxury of making his dream come true by defeating the former two-division champion. At an all-time high in confidence, Chelli summoned the man at the top of the food chain.

– Morrell did pretty well against Benavidez, didn’t he? – Chelli said. “And I did better, so why not? I can definitely become world champion.”

Zak Chelli just recorded the biggest win of his professional career and is ready to move on to the next step. Chelli probably won’t get the Benavidez fight, but at least the educator could employ the opportunity to teach David Morrell a valuable lesson.