THE RESULT: Artur Beterbiev retains his trio of world light-heavyweight belts after dropping Callum Smith twice in round seven. Smith’s trainer Buddy McGirt signalled to referee Michael Griffin he had seen enough after the second knockdown.
KEY MOMENTS: The 20-second burst of shots from Beterbiev in the opening round. It was a signal of intent from the destructive Russian. In round four he dismissed the size advantage of Smith by sticking to him like Velcro landing heavy shots in close quarters forcing the Brit into retreat.
RECORDS: Beterbiev’s flawless record hits 20-0 (20). Smith suffers his second loss at elite level and now sits at 29-2 (21)
TALKING POINT: The 18ft ring which surprised some beforehand. A size made for a tear-up, but Beterbiev left with barely a mark on him which has been rare in his career.
QUOTABLE: “He gave me good fight, he stayed strong, but luck is on my side,” the winner said afterwards. When asked about a fight against Dmitry Bivol, he responded “Yes, of course. I need another [fourth] belt.”
Beterbiev’s promoter Bob Arum also gave his input on the matter. “It’s not done yet. We want to do it. I’ll be talking to my friend His Excellency (Turki Alalshikh). I know he wants to do it, but Ramadan is coming. About three months after the end of Ramadan we’ll be ready to fight Bivol.”
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Having held all four light-heavyweight belts between them for so long Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol must fight one another next. There is no reason for them not to. This was only Callum Smith’s third fight at 175lbs. An active year against good opposition will keep him in the hunt if the belts become fractured in 2025.
