MINNEAPOLIS – David Morrell Jr. couldn’t assist however break into laughter when he stood face-to-face with Aidos Yerbossynuly after they weighed in Friday afternoon at W Minneapolis The Forshay.

Draped in a Kazakh flag, Yerbossynuly donned a standard, furry hat generally worn in his homeland. Unamused, Yerbossynuly sternly appeared into Morrell’s eyes, as if to let him know there could be nothing to chortle about Saturday night time of their 12-round, 168-pound title struggle at The Armory.

Morrell, 24, formally weighed in at 166.6 kilos. Moments earlier, Yerbossynuly, 30, stepped on the Minnesota Workplace of Fight Sports activities’ scale at 167.2 kilos.

Caesars Sportsbook listed the Cuban-born Morrell (7-0, 6 KOs), a southpaw who resides part-time in Minneapolis, as an 11-1 favourite Friday. Yerbossynuly (16-0, 11 KOs) is the necessary challenger for Morrell’s secondary WBA tremendous middleweight title.

Their struggle will headline a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET. The official weights for the Morrell-Yerbossynuly undercard bouts are listed beneath.

Showtime

9 p.m. ET; 8 p.m. CT

Jeison Rosario (23-3-1, 17 KOs), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 160 kilos vs. Brian Mendoza (20-2, 14 KOs), Albuquerque, New Mexico, 159.2 kilos, 10 rounds, middleweights.

Fiodor Czerkaszyn (20-0, 13 KOs), Kharkiv, Ukraine, 158.8 kilos vs. Nathaniel Gallimore (22-5-1, 17 KOs), Des Plaines, Illinois, 158.6 kilos, 10 rounds, middleweights.

Showtime Sports activities YouTube channel

6:30 p.m. ET; 5:30 p.m. CT

Andre Dirrell (28-3, 18 KOs), Flint, Michigan, 174 kilos vs. Yunieski Gonzalez (21-4, 17 KOs), Pinar del Rio, Cuba, 174 kilos, 10 rounds, mild heavyweights.

Julian Williams (27-3-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC), Philadelphia, 159.6 kilos vs. Rolando Mansilla (18-11-1, 8 KOs), Parana, Argentina, 158 kilos, 8 rounds, middleweights.

Kent Cruz (16-0-2, 10 KOs), St. Louis, 143.6 kilos vs. Enriko Gogokhia (13-0-1, 8 KOs), Zugdidi, Republic of Georgia, 141.4 kilos, 8 rounds, welterweights.

Non-televised undercard

5:10 ET; 4:10 CT

Yoenis Tellez (2-0, 2 KOs), Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 155.8 kilos vs. Dario Guerrero-Meneses (1-2-1, 0 KOs), Lengthy Seashore, California, 159.6 kilos, 8 rounds, middleweights.

Ablaikhan Zhussupov (2-0, 1 KO), Karaganda, Kazakhstan, 146.6 kilos vs. Demarcus Layton (8-3-1, 5 KOs), Little Rock, Arkansas, 145.4 kilos, 6 rounds, welterweights.

Demler Zamora (9-0, 8 KOs), Las Vegas, 132.2 kilos vs. Clay Burns (10-13-2, 4 KOs), Fort Price, Texas, 132.2 kilos, 6 rounds, lightweights.

Jose Perez (10-1-2, 4 KOs), Oak Hills, California, 129.6 kilos vs. Angel Luna (15-11-1, 8 KOs), Bronx, New York, 129 kilos, 4/6 rounds, junior lightweights.

Maximus Garland (2-0, 2 KOs), Capitol Heights, Maryland, 149 kilos vs. Alex Cortez (professional debut), Redding, California, 151½ kilos, 4 rounds, junior middleweights.

Keith Idec is a senior author/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He might be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.