Former WBA and Ring Magazine super middleweight champion Callum Smith had the quite unenviable task of travelling to Quebec, Canada to attempt to dethrone absolute wrecking machine Artur Beterbiev. Despite talking a very confident game going in, Smith fell short, by quite a long way. Being manhandled and beaten up in the fourth round, a game Smith was finally dropped twice and then stopped in round seven.
Smith found out, up close and personal, how lethal Beterbiev really is, how strong he is, both in terms of punching power and sheer physical prowess. Smith says he will now have a good, long think about what he does next. The thought of retirement always comes calling when a fighter suffers a heavy loss, a proud former world champion in this case, and Smith has said “it’s hard to accept that I’m not the best in the world.”
Smith, now 29-2(21) spoke with Sky Sports after being crushed by Beterbiev, and the 33 year old hinted he may well call it a career.
“I’m gonna spend some time with my family and see what the future holds. I don’t know, I’ve had a good career, been a world champion, been [on] top of the mountain. I’ve given a lot to boxing over the years,” a dejected Smith said. “I need to sit down and assess what goals I still want to achieve. I wanted to be a two-division world champion, but I’ve come up short tonight. It’s hard to accept that I’m not the best in the world. I’ll have to sit and assess what the future holds.”
Smith is young enough to come again, and he has only been beaten by two elite operators, these being Canelo Alvarez, who won a lopsided decision over him down at 168 pounds, and Beterbiev, who seems set to go down as a light heavyweight great. Smith absolutely has nothing to be ashamed of. But the man from Liverpool took quite a hammering last night, the kind that can leave a fighter damaged and nothing like the fighter he was prior to the beat down. It is indeed a tough decision Smith has to make now, or in the future. If he does retire, Smith can always say he was a world champion. Not everyone can say that.
Beterbiev, 20-0(20) actually thanked Smith for last night’s fight:
“[Smith] gave me a good fight, he stayed strong,” Beterbiev said. “Thank you to him. But today, luck is on my side.”
Beterbiev is not only an awesome fighter, he is also a humble one outside of the ring.
