Callum Smith has the opportunity to become a two-weight world champion when he gets his shot at Artur Beterbiev’s IBF, WBC and WBO titles on January 13th, in Quebec City, Canada.
Beterbiev, who is undefeated, has won all 19 of his professional fights via knockout, but Smith(29-1, 21KOs) from England, a 33 year old boxer who lost to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2020 for his only loss in the fight, is sure to disrupt the status quo in Quebec.
When Beterbiev, 38, from Russia had a terrible bone infection in his jaw, the fight that was originally set for last summer was rescheduled. Unbeaten Beterbiev(19-0, 19KOs) remains an intimidating rival and the only current world champion with a perfect knockout ratio.
“I’m a big believer in my own ability, I know how good I am, I know how good I can be, and providing the best version of me turns up, I believe I beat anyone on the planet,” said Smith in media reports.
“I’ve backed that up a lot of times before. Obviously I had the one slip in my career, but the best version of me knocks the best version of Artur Beterbiev out,” he added.
“I’m doing everything I can in camp to make sure the best version of me turns up. I’ve always had that focus not to worry too much about my opponent and let them worry about me,” he explained.
When they faced off for the first time during fight week, neither boxer gave much away, but Smith said that the intense stare down had sharpened his focus.
“I don’t think you’re going to win a fight by intimidating an someone like that in a head-to-head, especially at this level where everyone’s been there and done it before,” said Smith.
After losing to Alvarez, Smith relocated to the US to work with trainer Buddy McGirt, who has helped him win both of their fights via knockout.
“I think he (Smith) is very underrated. I think a lot of people underestimate him and he’s going to showcase what he can really do on Saturday night,” said McGirt.
“You can’t go in the fight thinking about his record. We know what’s in front of us, we’re not stupid, we know that it’s a tough task and we’re prepared for it,” he added.
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