Liverpudlian Callum Smith needs to make light heavyweight boxing champion Artur Beterbiev respect his power when the two fight for the title, according to a national boxing journalist.
George Glinski, a combat sports journalist for the Daily Express, and a boxer himself, gave his thoughts on Smith’s chances after the World Boxing Council (WBC) ordered the fight.
Beterbiev is a unified light heavyweight champion. He has held the International Boxing Federation (IBF), the WBC, and the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) titles since 2017, 2019 and 2022 respectively.
Glinski told Merseysportlive how he thinks Smith can challenge a fighter boasting 19 straight knock-out wins.
He said: “Weather the storm first and foremost. Beterbiev is going to come out hard. He needs to keep it at range.
“He’s got that reach advantage. He’s a big, big guy is Callum Smith and I think keeping it at range, establishing that jab early. In that first 30 seconds, it’s about making the other fighter respect their power.”
Glinski also explained why Smith was ginen the nod ahead of Dmitry Bivol, who has held the WBA light heavyweight title since 2017.
He said: “I think the fight everyone wants to see is the Dmitry Bivol fight. From my understanding and from the understanding of the WBC, they won’t be ranking Russian fighters and because Beterbiev has a Canadian passport he’s able to hold, and defend, that belt. We’re not able to see Bivol so Callum Smith is the next logical challenger.”
Smith previously fought in the super middleweight category. However, upon tasting defeat to Canelo Alvarez in 2021, he made the decision to move up to light heavyweight.
Since then, he has appeared in two fights at the increased weight class. Second and fourth round knockouts against Lenin Castillo and Mathieu Bauderlique respectively has seen the WBC grant him a shot at the title.
His record currently stands at 29 wins and one loss, compared to Beterbiev’s 19 straight knockout wins.
With negotiations underway for the organisation of this fight, the debate as to who will come out on top is going to start soon. The Russian-Canadian fighter will be many people’s favourite as the defending champion. However, Glinski is not following the same trend.
He said: “As he (Beterbiev) is now ageing, his feet are slowing down. I think we are starting to see signs of ageing with Beterbiev. I just really do think that we can see another little decline and it could be just enough for Callum Smith to do what he needs to do.”
