Artur Beterbiev is still the unified light heavyweight champion after retaining his WBC, WBO and IBF titles with a patient and brutal domination of Callum Smith on Saturday night. Beterbiev’s win over Smith also served a larger goal, keeping alive the hopes that he would be able to face WBA champion Dmitry Bivol in a long-anticipated battle to crown an undisputed champion at 175 pounds.
Smith was forced to walk through early fire as Beterbiev trapped him against the ropes and unloaded with big flurries in the opening round. To his credit, Smith survived those shots before returning a bit of fire of his own.
Smith came back capably in the second round as Beterbiev took his foot off the gas for a small stretch but that momentum was short-lived. Beterbiev came back by taking advantage of one of his strengths and one of Smith’s biggest weaknesses, shots to the body.
The body work served to open up Smith’s head and Beterbiev continued to blitz with big combinations as he forced Smith back into the ropes round after round.
In Round 7, Smith tasted the canvas for the first time in his career. After surviving prolonged assaults from Beterbiev nearly every round, a right hand wobbled Smith and the ensuing flurry dropped him. Smith beat the count, but Beterbiev showed the finishing skills that defined his career and continued throwing big shots until he dropped again.
As Smith struggled back to his feet, trainer Buddy McGirt entered the ring and waived the fight off to protect his fighter. The end came at the 2:00 mark of Round 7.
With the win, Beterbiev improved to 20-0 in his career, all 20 wins coming by stoppage. Beterbiev also did something pound-for-pound great Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was unable to do, not only dropping Smith twice but getting the stoppage win over the former super middleweight world champion.
Beterbiev was humble in victory, citing “luck” as the primary factor behind managing to be the first man to drop and stop Smith.
“Again, it’s because of luck, yes?” Beterbiev said. “It’s my coach. My team is working hard with me but I think it’s because of luck. … We have a couple of strategies. You need to be prepared for several strategies. He gave me a good fight and stayed strong. But, you know, today, luck is on my side.”
The obvious next fight for Beterbiev is a showdown with fellow undefeated champion Bivol, which Beterbiev said would hold a lot of meaning for him. Beterbiev’s promoter, Bob Arum, said the fight is not done, but made it clear that there are forces in Saudi Arabia — a suddenly impactful player in the boxing world — to make the fight happen.
“No, it’s not done yet,” Arum said. “But absolutely we want to do it. I’ll be talking to my friend and I know he wants to do it but Ramadan is coming and Ramadan is coming in April. Three months after Ramadan, we’ll be looking to fight Bivol.”
