A fight between light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol sits near the top of every boxing fan’s 2024 wishlist. If that undisputed championship bout is to come together, Beterbiev needs to take care of business on Saturday when he faces Calum Smith.
As his record indicates, Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KO) has been one of the most dominant fighters of the current era, blasting through opponent after opponent while collecting the IBF, WBC and WBO world championships at 175 pounds.
For many, it is believed that the only true threats to Beterbiev’s dominance are undefeated WBA champion Bivol and Father Time. At 38 years old, there’s only so much time left before time catches up to Beterbiev and causes his skills to fall off a cliff. It’s unpredictable when that moment will come for any elite athlete, but it will come.
Some believe that signs of decline were showing in Beterbiev’s most recent outing. In January 2023, Beterbiev took on Anthony Yarde and was pushed hard in several moments and was down on two of the three official scorecards. Even so, Beterbiev only took until Round 8 before stopping Yarde.
“I am not thinking about these things,” Beterbiev told CBS Sports this week. “For example, I have camp now preparing for Callum Smith and I’m not thinking about whether Canelo wants to fight me one day. That’s not me. Maybe someone does that but I don’t do that.
“I think, for me, I need to move up one category to cruiserweight [eventually]. After that, is heavyweight [but] I think it’s too much for me and I would have to eat too much. But for cruiserweight and moving up, that’s not bad. If I [unify] everything here at 175 pounds, moving up is interesting.”
In Smith, Beterbiev faces a man who has found new life since moving to light heavyweight. Smith made the move up after a loss to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in December 2020 in a fight where Alvarez won nearly every round in a dominant performance.
Smith was fortunate to have gotten the big money fight with Alvarez considering he was given a very questionable decision win over John Ryder the fight prior. After the Ryder and Alvarez fights, Smith needed to find a new path, and with Alvarez undisputed champion at super middleweight, that path proved to be at light heavyweight.
In two fights at 175 pounds, Smith took just two rounds to stop Gilbert Castillo Rivera and four to knock out Mathieu Bauderlique.
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Of course, Beterbiev is far better than the likes of Rivera or Bauderlique. But the early returns on Smith as a light heavyweight have been positive.
“Yeah, I know how good he is,” Smith in an interview with BoxingScene. “But I never watched him and believed, ‘How would he lose?’ Or, ‘It’s gonna take a special fighter to beat him.’ I’ve seen him hurt, he does lose rounds. A lot of fights he’s won — I believe the Gvozdyk fight he was down on the scorecards. I believe in the Yarde fight he may have been down or it was close. It’s not like he’s a Floyd Mayweather, who whitewashes people. He’s there to be hit and I plan on hitting him and taking advantage of it.”
The undercard features a pair of fighters looking to make a name for themselves. Christian Mbilli could be the next big thing at super middleweight and he looks to continue his ascent on Saturday against Randy Murdock. Mbilli is 25-0 with 21 knockouts on his resume. He’s coming off two of his biggest career wins in 2023 when he earned a decision against Carlos Gongora and finished Demond Nicholson. The other big fight features the return of Jason Moloney as the Aussie looks to defend his WBO bantamweight title against Saul Sanchez.
Let’s take a look at the rest of the card with the latest odds before getting to a prediction and expert pick on the main event.
Viewing information
- Date: Jan. 13
- Location: Videotron Centre — Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
- Start time: 10 p.m. ET
- How to watch: ESPN/ESPN+
Beterbiev vs. Smith fight card, odds
| Favorite | Underdog | Weight class |
|---|---|---|
| Artur Beterbiev (c) -400 | Callum Smith +300 | IBF, WBO, WBC light heavyweight titles |
| Christian Mbilli -1000 | Rohan Murdock +650 | Super middleweight |
| Jason Moloney (c) -350 | Saul Sanchez +275 | WBO bantamweight title |
Prediction
Smith is a solid, capable fighter who can capitalize on fighters who don’t show up at their best. Unfortunately, Beterbiev is a level above the fighters you can reliably expect Smith to defeat. For Smith, he likely needs a combination of age catching up to Beterbiev and Beterbiev having an off night.
Beterbiev is a strong fighter who imposes his will on opponents. If he doesn’t catch you early, he will continue to push and wear on you until you’re trapped against the ropes, eating big shots and wilting. It’s difficult to imagine that Smith can withstand round after round of Beterbiev’s assault, especially considering we’ve seen men a weight class below be able to break him down.
Smith will likely have some good moments early but Beterbiev will catch up to him, wear him down and take over the fight. Beterbiev should be able to get the stoppage somewhere in the middle or late rounds but Smith gritting his way to the scorecards is not entirely out of the question. Pick: Artur Beterbiev via TKO8
Who wins Artur Beterbiev vs. Callum Smith, and which prop is a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see Peter Kahn’s best bets for Saturday, all from the boxing specialist who has netted his followers a profit of nearly $4,000, and find out.
