During the last few weeks, WBA "regular" super middleweight champion David Morell has been training hard with veteran coach Ronnie Shields.

Morrell will close 2021 on December 18, when he faces Alantez Fox in Minneapolis in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card that will arrive nationwide on FOX.

Morrell felt the move to Shields was the right decision for his career.

“That was the move that my team was looking at with the future plans that we have. They talked to me, they explained to me that this was the best decision for my career and I understood it. My other coaches were spoken to and they understood too and we came here with Ronnie Shields," Morrell told George Ebro.

"It means a lot to me to be with Ronnie, but it is also a great responsibility to fill the shoes of those who have passed through his hands. I know that Erislandy Lara and Guillermo Rigondeaux, two great champions, have been around him. I know I will work hard, because he has high expectations of me.''

Should he win on Saturday, Morrell has big goals for the new year.

The man at super middleweight is Saul "Canelo" Alvarez - who holds of the major titles in the division. Last month Canelo knocked out Caleb Plant to became the undisputed champion with the IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO world titles.

“We have talked a lot with the team and we have many projects in mind. I think new opportunities are going to open up. We also have to wait to see which of the potential opponents want to fight and who doesn't, but we already want great fights. That's what we want," Morrell said.

“It seems to me that [Canelo] has done the best for himself and for his career. He has made decisions as a free agent and does what he wants. Many criticize him, but each person does what he can and wants. It's all part of the boxing business. He is in his best moments. This is his time.

"[A fight between us would be] like the Fight of the Year, because it would be watched by millions of his followers. For my part, I am a young man who has been rising up. Mexican against Cuban, it would be spectacular. I wish it could happen in 2022.''