After his unanimous decision victory over John Ryder, what’s next for Callum Smith?
The question on people’s lips is who will the WBA Super, WBC Diamond and Ring Magazine champion fight next?
Here are five fights that make sense next for the Liverpool boxing superstar:
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez
Many boxing fans rate Canelo as pound-for-pound the best fighter on the planet. Back-to-back wins against long reigning middleweight king, Gennady Golovkin, solidified him as the best 160-pounder in the world.
Canelo then stepped up to 168 and destroyed Rocky Fielding to win the WBA Regular title. After this, the Mexican moved back down to middleweight, and unified the division against Daniel Jacobs.
Only two weeks ago, Canelo stepped up another weight division to take on Russian power puncher, Sergey Kovalev. Canelo knocked him out in the 11th round, winning the WBO Light Heavyweight title.
A fight against Smith would be a cracker. Canelo will fancy his chances after Smith’s latest performance against John Ryder, but the Liverpudlian will still back himself to beat the pound-for-pound king.
Billy Joe Saunders
After a lacklustre performance in his last fight, Billy Joe Saunders needs a big fight to bring the best out of him. Like Smith, both underperformed on their last outing, which would make for a great fight if the two were to meet.
Saunders moved up from middleweight to super-middle, winning the vacant WBO title against Shefat Isufi at the Lamex Stadium. Since defeating David Lemieux almost two years ago, in what was his best performance to date, Saunders had failed to live up to expectations.
A fight with Smith would be an intriguing one. A tall power-puncher against a slick mover. Smith would undoubtedly go into the fight as favourite, but it would be an interesting fight nevertheless.
Chris Eubank Jr
A fascinating fight on paper.
Chris Eubank Jr has a tough fight coming up against Matvey Korobov, but should he get through this test, a showdown with Smith would be an absolute cracker.
‘Nextgen’ has expressed that he will continue to fight at both middleweight and super-middleweight. This shows the intentions of the 30-year-old to get the big fights.
Again, Smith would go into this fight as a huge favourite with the bookies, but no doubt would have a hard nights work against Eubank Jr.
John Ryder
A rematch against John Ryder is very much a possibility.
Many people were shocked at how well Ryder performed against Smith on Saturday night, with many fans believing he actually won.
His stock will only have risen since then, and there are still some questions surrounding the fight. A rematch would be a chance for Smith to silence any doubters who believe he lost. However, if Ryder avenged his loss and become the WBA and Ring Magazine champion, it would be a huge statement.
Gennady Golovkin
Another fantastic fight on paper would be the clash with Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin.
Golovkin got through narrowly in his last fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and looked dead at the weight. Stepping up to super-middleweight could well be the next move for the Kazakh, and a clash with Smith would be the perfect fight for him.
GGG would fancy his chances, especially after Smith’s last performance, as well as being more established as an elite level fighter. On the other hand, Smith would back himself to get the win over Golovkin. He is the younger, fresher fighter, who has less miles on the clock.
Only time will tell what Smith’s next move is, but he has plenty of options.
