Here is how David Morrell responded to being knocked down in a tougher than expected fight

Davd Morrell got way more than he might have bargained for with Imam Khataev on Saturday night, live on DAZN PPV.

But the Cuban made the adjustments necessary to rebound from being knocked down in the fifth round to score a close split-decision victory in a great fight and get back into the win column after suffering a loss to David Benavidez in February.

Judges inside the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York had it 95-94 for Khataev, 96-93 for Morrell and 95-94 for Morrell.

Khataev (10-1, 9 KOs) immediately caught the attention of Morrell (12-1, 9 KOs) by catching him with flush shots during the open round to which the Cuban fighter adjusted well by fine-tuning his space and operating well behind the jab.

During the second round, Morrell was even inviting Khataev to fight fire with fire.

The exclamation point of the 10-round bout came in the fifth when Khataev unloaded a clubbing right hook that caught an off-balance Morrell flush on the mouth, dropping the him back against the ropes in the fifth round.

By the seventh round, Khataev was inviting Morrell into the phone booth with him.

Morrell continued making adjustments and was able to time Khataev’s punches, countering him with sharp left hooks — one of which made the Russian stumble briefly in the eighth.

He also began to uncork uppercuts which split Khataev’s guard, before pot-shotting him with hard shots, landing cleanly, riding his boxing skills to eke out the split decision.

Despite getting a tougher fight than he might have anticipated from a rugged Khataev, Morrell bouncing back with a win means the former light heavyweight title challenger is back in the mix for championship contention in the near future.