Light heavyweight titleholder Artur Beterbiev will try to turn capable veteran Callum Smith into his 20th knockout victim in as many fights when they face off Saturday in Canada.
ARTUR BETERBIEV (19-0, 19 KOs)
vs. CALLUM SMITH (29-1, 21 KOs)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 13
Time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
Where: Videotron Centre, Quebec City, Canada
TV/Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
Division: Light heavyweight (175 pounds)
At stake: Beterbiev’s IBF, WBC and WBO titles
Odds: Beterbiev 4-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
Pound-for-pound: Beterbiev No. 14
Also on the card: Christian Mbilli vs. Rohan Murdock, super middleweights; Jason Moloney vs. Saul Sanchez, bantamweights (for Moloney’s WBO title); Imam Khataev vs. Rodolfo Gomez Jr., light heavyweights
Prediction: Beterbiev KO 9
Background: Beterbiev is scheduled to face arguably his toughest challenge to date in former 168-pound beltholder Callum Smith. The Canada-based Russian is one of the most feared boxers in the world, having stopped all 19 of his opponents. However, he has been relatively inactive. The 38-year-old has had only two fights since 2021, TKO victories over Joe Smith Jr. (two rounds) in June 2022 and Anthony Yarde (eight) in January of last year. That means Beterbiev will have been out of the ring for a full year when he faces Smith. He won the first two of his three titles by stopping then-unbeaten Oleksandr Gvozdyk in 10 rounds in 2019 and has successfully defended four times. Smith didn’t fare well the last time he stepped up to face a star, losing a one-sided decision to Canelo Alvarez in a title-unification bout in December 2020. The 33-year-old from England has won his two fights since, knockouts of second-tier opponents Lenin Castillo in September 2021 and Mathieu Bauderlique in August 2022 at 175 pounds. Smith has had a longer layoff than Beterbiev, almost 17 months. He won the WBA 168-pound title by stopping George Groves in seven rounds in September 2018 and successfully defended two times before meeting Alvarez. A victory for Beterbiev could lead directly to a meeting with Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed 175-pound championship.
ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK
FRIDAY
Yuko Kuroki vs. Rie Matsuda, strawweights (for Kuroki’s WBA and WBO titles), Tokyo (No TV in U.S.)
SATURDAY
Moussa Gholam vs. Lunga Sitemela, junior lightweights Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (DAZN)
Fabiana Bytyqi vs. Tina Rupprecht, atomweights (for Bytyqi’s WBC title), Berlin (No TV in U.S.
