For a 38-year-old unified champion with a perfect record, and knockout wins in all 19 of his professional bouts, Artur Beterbiev is as unassuming as anyone in all of boxing.
That doesn’t mean Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) doesn’t look the part as the scary destroyer he is. In fact, the native of Russia, who relocated to Montreal some 10 years ago, wouldn’t miss a beat should he be cast for any B-level action movie as a diabolical foreign villain.
But if you talk to Beterbiev, who speaks varying levels of four different languages (including much-improved English), it’s easy to come away wondering whether this is the same man who is on the verge of entering such an important — and, potentially, career-defining — calendar year, which might finally catapult him to the kind of stardom that would equal his pound-for-pound ranked talent.
The real Beterbiev, who returns Saturday to defend his trio of 175-pound titles against former super middleweight titleholder Callum Smith (29-1, 21 KOs) in Quebec City, is overflowing with charm and wit. Not only is Beterbiev surprisingly playful in ways that make you question the sincerity of his words, when pressed for deeper answers, there’s a streak of humility he exudes that makes one wonder whether that’s the key to his dominant and sustained success.
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When asked during a recent guest appearance on “Morning Kombat” what goals remain for his professional career as he closes in on his 39th birthday later this month, Beterbiev was deadpan in his delivery of a surprising response.
“To be a good boxer one day,” he told CBS Sports.
Wait, what?
Beterbiev, who was born of Chechen descent in the Russian republic of Dagestan, had an exceptional amateur career, which featured gold medals at light heavyweight in the 2008 World Cup and 2009 World Championships. Then, as a heavyweight, he represented Russia at the 2011 World Championships and 2012 London Olympics, each time losing on points in close fights against current unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Meanwhile, as a professional, Beterbiev has finished every opponent he has faced, including breakthrough wins over Callum Johnson, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Marcus Browne, Joe Smith Jr. and Anthony Yarde, with all five opponents entering bouts against him with a combined record of 109-6. He’s also regarded among the most well-rounded champions in modern boxing, with just as much technical skill as he has explosive power.
“When you wake up in the morning, if you sleep well, you feel great,” Beterbiev said. “But I’m not feeling yet [waking up] where I feel like I’m a good boxer.”
Whether or not Beterbiev ever fulfills his own lofty expectations as a pugilist, it wouldn’t be a stretch to mention the chance that he retires one day soon with both an unbeaten record and, potentially, knockouts in every single fight. It should also come as no surprise, based upon the comments above, just how little Beterbiev cares about both.
“I am not thinking about it,” Beterbiev said. “Maybe [someday] yes and maybe no. It has all happened because of luck.”
Should Beterbiev defeat Smith, a former WBA champion at 168 pounds whose lone defeat came to Canelo Alvarez in their 2020 unification, his immediate future could be massive. A long-awaited undisputed showdown with unbeaten WBA titleholder, and recent Alvarez conqueror, Dmitry Bivol is expected to finally come to fruition this spring, likely helped along by the deep pockets in boxing’s new hotbed of Saudi Arabia.
From there, things could go a number of ways for Beterbiev, all of which seem big. Possibilities of title defenses against popular super middleweights like Alvarez and David Benavidez remain unlikely but not impossible. As does, possibilities of Beterbiev moving up to cruiserweight to chase titles, or, although this is more of a pipe dream, the outside chance of going all the way up to heavyweight to rematch his amateur rival in Usyk.
Beterbiev can be asked about these possibilities, and often does from various media members. That doesn’t mean a clear and absolute answer is what you are going to get in return.
“I am not thinking about these things,” Beterbiev said. “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.”
While the Bivol fight continues to elude him, the only thing Beterbiev would confirm about the potential showdown is that he isn’t and has never been the one holding it back. The pair of light heavyweight champions recently took a photo together in Saudi Arabia but any talks about a fight, even as rumors continue to swirl, were minimal.
“We shook hands and that’s it. That is all of the exchange,” Beterbiev said. “They asked when we are fighting and I told them that he is always talking about the fight. He says he will fight me but he has never fought me. So, you ask him.
“But you ask me do I want that fight? For example, the last few years we have done two unification fights: Oleksandr Gvodzyk and Joe Smith. Gvodzyk wanted the fight and we did the fight. Smith wanted the fight and we did the fight. It means you already know the answer to your question about whether I want the fight.”
Until that fight takes place, even with the challenge presented this weekend by Smith, the biggest threat to Beterbiev might be the undefeated record of Father Time.
For as dominant as Beterbiev has been — and, he really has — a few cracks in the armor have shown themselves over the years, including an unexpected brawl against Yarde last January, which ended via eighth-round knockout yet had Beterbiev looking uncharacteristically vulnerable.
“I have a conditioning coach and a boxing coach. I ask them every camp — and you can ask them, too — whether I am doing this better than five years ago or was I better then?” Beterbiev said. “They said, yes, I am doing this better now than five years ago. They tell me that but I think they lie to me a bit. But, I feel good. Even if they lie a little bit, it’s still 80 percent true.”
Even when he’s being humble, there’s a twinkle in Beterbiev’s eye that offsets his still broken (but improving) English to at least make you question whether he’s playing with you. For his opponents, however, there’s no question about his intentions.
Beterbiev enters the boxing ring to dominate and he doesn’t get paid by the round. And should he handle Smith the same way he has dealt with the rest of the division, the Russian slugger could be poised for the type of calendar year which will cement him as a future all-time great in waiting.
