Eddie Hearn predicts Callum Smith will defeat IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev by knockout on January 13th at the Centre Videotron, Quebec City.
With a victory, Callum has a chance to take Beterbiev’s place in a lucrative undisputed 175-lb championship fight against WBA champ Dmitry Bivol.
Hearn feels that Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs), who turns 39 on January 21st, is showing age and is ripe for the picking for his WBC mandatory Callum to dethrone.
Time and age catching up?
Besides age, Beterbiev has been inactive for the last twelve months, last fighting on January 23rd, stopping Anthony Yarde by an eighth round knockout in a shootout in London, England.
Beterbiev was supposed to have defended against Callum Smith last year on August 19th in Quebec City, but the contest needed to be postponed due to Artur requiring jaw surgery for a bone infection.
A haunting memory
“You know you can just see it. I remember when Callum Johnson fought Artur Beterbiev [in October 2018 in Chicago, Illinois]. That was years ago in our first ever Matchroom Boxing USA show on DAZN,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom, discussing his belief that Callum Smith will pull off the upset against IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on January 13th.
“He [Callum Johnson] dropped Beterbiev with a left hook [in round two after being knocked down himself in the first]. Every time I think about this fight, as Callum [Smith] does, catch-counter, I can see him knocking out Artur Beterbiev cold in Quebec,” said Hearn.
It would be a major upset if Callum Smith defeats Beterbiev, as fans don’t give him much chance. Smith looked overmatched against Canelo Alvarez in 2020, losing by a wide twelve round unanimous decision.
The heavy-handed Callum Johnson hurt Beterbiev in the second, but the fight quickly turned around in the third, with Artur landing hard shots to the head & body of Hearn’s fighter. In the fourth, Beterbiev knocked out Johnson after trapping him against the ropes.
The doubts remain
“It’s a tough task. I really believe he’s going to do it,” Hearn said about his view that the 33-year-old stork-like Callum Smith will defeat Beterbiev on January 13th. “People give him a good chance in that fight, and I do.
“I really believe Callum Smith will beat Beterbiev and become the unified light heavyweight world champion and two-division world champion as well. I can’t wait to be there. It’s one of those nights where you get a victory over there, and it’s one that you really remember,” said Hearn.
It’s unclear what boxing fans Hearn is talking about when he says people give Callum a “good chance” of defeating Beterbiev, because, on social media, they view him as more a ‘bum of the month’ level opponent.
The 33-year-old Callum Smith has won his two fights since moving up to 175 in 2022, but the guys he beat were mediocre, with his wins over journeyman Lenin Castillo and Mathieu Bauderlique.
Callum didn’t test himself against the good light heavyweights, so it’s impossible to know if he’s improved since his loss to Canelo Alvarez in 2020.
“And age, he had to pull out of the first fight,” said Hearn about the 38-year-old Beterbiev getting older and having to pull out of his first fight with Callum Smith due to a jaw infection. Beterbiev turns 39 on January 21st.
Stakes are high
“I saw him [Beterbiev] against [Anthony] Yarde [last year in January 2023],” said Hearn. “He’s obviously, a very good fighter, but he just started showing a few signs. I think he can be hurt, but a big danger, and Callum has got to get it spot on, but I believe he’ll do it.
“His [Callum Smith] two fights at light heavyweight [Lenin Castillo & Mathieu Bauderlique] were obviously against opposition not to the level of Beterbiev, but iced them, and he can really punch.
“He [Callum] was at 168 for a long time, struggling to make the weight. So this is a big shootout in Quebec,” said Hearn.
If Callum wins this fight, it’ll be he who faces WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed championship in Saudi Arabia rather than Beterbiev, and that would be huge. The money that Callum would make fighting Bivol in Saudi would be life-changing.
