In ten days from now, the big-punching Callum Smith will be facing IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in an explosive twelve round fight on ESPN+ on January 13th at the Videotron in Quebec City, Canada.
This long-awaited clash was supposed to have taken place last year in the summer but was delayed due to Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) requiring jaw surgery.
The Layoff Factor
Beterbiev will be coming off a 12-month layoff, and Smith (29-1, 21 KOs) will see action for the first time in 17 months.
It’ll be interesting to see how the inactivity affects these two big punchers. Luckily for them, they depend more on their power rather than speed and reflexes.
Smith was under-matched in his two fights since moving up to 175, being fed journeyman Lenin Castillo and Mathieu Bauderlique.
We Don’t know how Smith will hold up mentally and physically facing his first true test at light heavyweight because those two fighters he fought were pedestrian-level opponents, designed to get his feet wet but not prepare him for a fighter like Beterbiev.
Ideally, promoter Eddie Hearn should have put Callum in with Joshua Buatsi and Craig Richards to sharpen him up before throwing him in with Beterbiev.
“You can also say that Callum Smith has been out for 17 months, and he’s not a light heavyweight, even though he’s 6’5″ and he’s grown into the weight amazingly,” said Gareth A. Davies to Boxing Social, talking about IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbeiv and Callum Smith both coming off long layoffs for their January 13th fight in Quebec City.
“He [Callum Smith] looked very good in his last two fights at light heavyweight [against Lenin Castillo and Mathieu Bauderlique], even though he was probably under-matched against those guys.”
There’s no probably about it. Smith was matched weakly in his two fights since moving up to light heavyweight, and you can’t know how he’ll adjust to taking on a talent like Beterbiev.
If he fights like he did against Canelo Alvarez and John Ryder, he won’t last long on January 13th because he can’t post up against the ropes and cover up for twelve rounds against a puncher like Beterbiev.
Is Beterbiev still the same fighter?
“It’s a really, really good fight [Beterbiev vs. Smith], and if Callum was going to fight him at any time, it’s now. I’d love for Callum to do it for him, but I’d also love to see Beterbiev and Bivol this year,” said Gareth.
“Both of them are undefeated. When you look at Beterbiev’s record, 19 wins and 19 knockouts, it’s extraordinary. He’s just got the ability to find the equalizer at different points in the fight, and he really does have that killer instinct when someone is hurt.
“I thought, even though it was just an eight round fight in the end, Beterbiev and Yarde at the beginning of last year was one of the fights of the year, there’s no question about it.
“Callum Smith has a fantastic jab, he’s got power, he’s got levers on the inside. As you said, you rightly mentioned the age of Artur Beterbiev. He’s 39 this year.
“That Yarde fight will have taken something out of him as well, but he just has that ability to turn the corner in a fight when it looks like when he’s in trouble and weathers the storms.
“He does nothing to wreck his body outside of fighting. I still favor Beterbiev to win this fight, but I’d be delighted for Callum if he did it. It’s a brilliant fight. I’m looking forward to seeing Callum out there.
“It’s delayed. It was originally supposed to take place in August. He knew the fight was there, and he didn’t want to pick up an injury against anyone else,” said Gareth about how it would have been risky for Callum to take a tune-up fight while waiting for Beterbiev’s jaw to heal from his surgery.
“Beterbiev had that jaw injury. He said he’s absolutely now, but he needed to get it right because it was an issue in his jawline that he needed to sort out. It was an infection in there.
“Callum has been waiting for these mega-fights when you think about it. He went all the way through. He beat George Groves [in September 2018] to become the #1 super middleweight [in the view of some but not in reality] in the world and had a reign.
“He had that weird [controversial] fight against John Ryder [in 2019], which some of us felt that Ryder had won, and then he had the fight with Canelo. That’s the only blemish in his career, really. Even on that night, he went twelve tough rounds with Canelo.
“He is the best of those four boxing brothers, there’s no doubt about it, and this could be a legacy moment for him. If Beterbiev wins, I think we’ll see Bivol and Beterbiev fight it out this year for all the belts. I don’t think it’ll be too long, either. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was early summer,” said Gareth.
