Artur Beterbiev vs. Callum Smith | Sky Sports - 13 January 2024

[margaret thatcher]

need a better opponent for chris

[Ruthless-RKO]

Anthony Yarde To Return on Zhang vs. Joyce Card, September 23

Anthony Yarde will make his ring return on the undercard of Joe Joyce’s rematch with Zhilei Zhang in London on September 23.

Yarde, 31, has not boxed since he was stopped by unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on January 28.

It was the third defeat of his career and the second inside-distance loss following his 2019 knockout at the hands of Sergey Kovalev.

But he will get his career back on track in September as part of the undercard in London before hoping to identify a path to his third world title attempt.

Promoter Eddie Hearn recently claimed he had made an offer for Yarde to face the WBA champion Dmitry Bivol later this year but it seems as though Yarde, who is a allegedly fighter, will be going a different route.

Meanwhile, Yarde’s fellow British light-heavyweight Dan Azeez and Joshua Buatsi, who are both under contract with Boxxer, are expected to fight each other later this year.

And Yarde will draw a line under eight months of inactivity on September 23 before pressing ahead with a big fight in December.

Beterbiev will defend his IBF, WBO, WBC titles against another British fighter, Callum Smith, on August 19. A win by Smith could open up another avenue for Yarde. And the WBA champion, Dmitry Bivol, is looking to fight in October with no potential opponent mentioned.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

[cormack]

not good for smith hanging around an extra 3/4 months - needs to stay busy .

[CaptainSpacerod]

not good for smith hanging around an extra 3/4 months - needs to stay busy .

Yarde should pull out of his joke stay busy fight and face Smith instead

[Ruthless-RKO]

Looking at November now

[Manchester Hitman]

not good for smith hanging around an extra 3/4 months - needs to stay busy .

Yarde should pull out of his joke stay busy fight and face Smith instead

Why on earth would Yarde or Smith do that? Not to mention it’s not feasible politics wise anyway.

Smith should ask Eddie to stick him on a card for a run out & wait for Beterbiev. It won’t hurt to allow him to get abit older and this mouth injury might soften up the nerves in his jaw.

[CaptainSpacerod]

not good for smith hanging around an extra 3/4 months - needs to stay busy .

Yarde should pull out of his joke stay busy fight and face Smith instead

Why on earth would Yarde or Smith do that? Not to mention it’s not feasible politics wise anyway.

Smith should ask Eddie to stick him on a card for a run out & wait for Beterbiev. It won’t hurt to allow him to get abit older and this mouth injury might soften up the nerves in his jaw.

You’re spot on and “why would I do that” is exactly what both boxers would think if the idea was presented to them.

But isn’t that precisely what’s wrong with boxing, too much filler and not enough killer.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Press Release

WBC/WBO/IBF light heavyweight king Artur Beterbiev now has a date to defend his crown. After recent dental surgery forced Beterbiev to postpone his Aug. 19 title defense against former world champion Callum Smith, the two will now meet Saturday, Jan. 13 at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.

Promoted by Eye of the Tiger and Top Rank, in association with Matchroom Boxing, tickets are on sale now via www.ticketmaster.ca.

“It’s a few months later than originally planned, but I am thrilled that Artur Beterbiev will have a chance to defend his titles in front of the incredible Quebec City fans,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Artur has a clean bill of health, and I know Callum, a supremely talented former champion, will be at his best on January 13th.”

“I’m very pleased that the camps came to an agreement quickly, so we can go ahead with this light heavyweight championship super fight,” said Eye of the Tiger president Camille Estephan. “It’s going to heat up this January in Quebec City.”

Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs), boxing’s only current world champion with a 100 percent knockout ratio, has made seven title defenses since capturing the IBF strap in November 2017. He is coming off January’s stirring eighth-round TKO over Anthony Yarde in Yarde’s hometown of London. Smith (29-1, 21 KOs), from Liverpool, England, is the former Ring Magazine and WBA super middleweight world champion. He has won two fights since moving up to light heavyweight following a decision defeat to Canelo Alvarez in December 2020.

The ticket holders have the option to either keep the tickets they purchased and retain the previously selected seats, or get a refund. The refund option will be available via the Ticketmaster account of the person who purchased the tickets. In the case of a ticket transfer, the original purchaser will have to proceed with the refund request. Any refund requests made after this deadline will be denied. For any questions, contact the ticket office at Centre Vidéotron.

[Ruthless-RKO]

It’s a very long wait this.

Smith should get out.

Will be a year since the Yarde win as well.

[Monzon83]

not good for smith hanging around an extra 3/4 months - needs to stay busy .

Yarde should pull out of his joke stay busy fight and face Smith instead

He won’t fight anyone with a pulse until they can get a cash out fight.

Smith would batter him anyway.

[CaptainSpacerod]

not good for smith hanging around an extra 3/4 months - needs to stay busy .

Yarde should pull out of his joke stay busy fight and face Smith instead

He won’t fight anyone with a pulse until they can get a cash out fight.

Smith would batter him anyway.

Smith’s shown nothing to suggest he’s elite at 175, I don’t think he’ll give as good an account of himself against Beter as Yarde did

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Manchester Hitman]

Beterbiev holding up the division because of a “dental issue” is a disgrace.
12 months between fights is ridiculous.

Smith needs to get out soon.

[margaret thatcher]

kinda crazyy how far back this got pushed. i think cal has a realistic chance of an upset here (right place, right time etc), watching the odds for this one

[THEBUTCH]

Another 4 1/2 months until the fight takes place is out & out ridiculous. Smith should take a couple of easy pickings fights to keep active.

[Ruthless-RKO]

The forgotten fight!

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[Twinkle Toes]

Unless Beterbiev has aged badly, I give little chance to Smith.

[SeanBrennan]

I've been the eternal optimist when it comes to UK fighters and gone for Smith KO

[Delta Jay]

I've been the eternal optimist when it comes to UK fighters and gone for Smith KO

Me too. Bert been hurt before and just had a jaw bone infection. Callum can land some extremely sharp counters and hasn’t really been in the wars so should be a lot fresher than 40 YO Artur and good arl fashioned Scouse bias.

[SeanBrennan]

I've been the eternal optimist when it comes to UK fighters and gone for Smith KO

Me too. Bert been hurt before and just had a jaw bone infection. Callum can land some extremely sharp counters and hasn’t really been in the wars so should be a lot fresher than 40 YO Artur and good arl fashioned Scouse bias.

deffo. Jaw bone infection sounds super painful too.

[TheLeprechaun]

I just can't forget how Callum went into survival mode and barely threw anything against Canelo once he felt the power. Beterbiev will be on him so it will force him to fight but I just can't confidently get behind him when hes shown that mentality before. He also lost to Ryder on my scorecard. I think Beterbiev rolls him over and even in the off chance that Beterbiev gets caught with something, I think he will use his experience to get through it. Once he gets Callum going, I don't think Callum is going to be mentally strong enough to stay in there. He was mentally checked out of the Canelo fight long before the final bell.

[Monzon83]

If he thought Canelo was powerful, he’s going to have a big problem with Artur.