Round-by-Round: Artur Beterbiev vs. Callum Smith - 13 January 2024

[gregregegg]

6 feet vs 5'11

not too short unless you put them next to a huge freak mutant lhw like cal

Beterb is the second shortest light heavy in the top 10… so shortish considering he has a world class jab somthing normally associated with tall fighters.

Bivol is also shorter than average for elite light heavies.

Not short, shortish considering how good there jabs are.

[margaret thatcher]

cal 6'3
gvo 6'2.5
buatsi 6'2
zinad 6'1
pamp 6'1
biv 6'0
rivera 6'0
bert 5'115
ismaylov 5'11.5
azeez 5'10

i mean it's not really all that shorrt of a fight, the range isnt too great. only 3 guys are more than an inch taller than bivol. only 3 are more than an inch and a half taller than bert.

so half the top 10 are 6 feet or shorter, and going down the top 20 most are actually 6 feet or shorter. bivol and bert are right around average tbh. to me a short fight would be more like 5'9 dudes vs each other

and i mean are these heights even accurate tbh. here is shorty bivol with arthur, who by his listing is one of the tallest



wee bert not exactly dwarfed by 2nd tallest gvo

[Deserter]

Feel i'm seeing the traditional pattern of lots of informed posters swaying towards the Brit the closer the fight gets, as heart takes over from head and we collectively start to convince ourselves that the underdog can do it.
Could well be left with egg on my face here, but I just can't see it - think Beterbiev stops Smith somewhere between 6-9. Levels.

just leaving this here... and praying we get Bert vs Bivol later in the year. Leaning towards Bivol in that one. Styles.

[THEBUTCH]

Just look at the difference in Beterbiev's performance when he felt he had a genuine threat to his throne !

It was obvious at the time that he didn't see anything in Anthony Yarde that could trouble him and thus ended up in a spirited tussle before crushing Yarde.

Not this time....within 15 seconds of the opening bell he set about removing any danger Smith presented with a beautifully executed performance of pressure & destruction.

All hail king Beterbiev

[coneye]

6 feet vs 5'11

not too short unless you put them next to a huge freak mutant lhw like cal

Beterb is the second shortest light heavy in the top 10… so shortish considering he has a world class jab somthing normally associated with tall fighters.

Bivol is also shorter than average for elite light heavies.

Not short, shortish considering how good there jabs are.

Bivol -- Bert --- Two boxers who it does'nt matter if there a bit shorter , they make up for any discreprency with there impecable distancing and footwork, both know the value and lenghth a 2 inch foot movement can give you , hence Bert hit the taller guy with a beutiful straight left all night long , . Something not mentioned yet is the great advice that Smith was reciving from Mcgirt , it was all bang on the money , just unfortunate that unles Buddy was gonna glove up , jump in and help Callum it was never going to be any good anyway .. kowing what to do and being allowed to do it are two different things .
When Callum did push Bert back , he just used good footwork to go back further , change angles and do what he wanted to do .

Really really hoping to see B and B GET IT ON I WOULD EXPECT A MASTERCLASS and i hav'nt got a clue who would win ,

[MightyWarrior]

He’s like some sort of mythological monster, unstoppable, he just brushed the formidable very brave Callum Smith aside.

Gotta love Buddy McGirt, a fighter who looks after his fighters

[handsofstone]

Hard to bare for Smith, you could see him try to box Beterbiev, establish the jab, work the body, manoeuvre his way around the ring but Beterbiev did what Beterbiev does, he keeps coming, he suffocates you with pressure of his feet and he clubs with hard heavy shots, started fast but settled down, his targeted the body, his jab was thudding, just didn't give Smith a moments peace, he found the breakthrough in the 7th, hurt Smith with a right and never let him off the hook, clubbed him down, Smith got up on heart but still clearly hurt, more of thr same by Beterbiev, rained down heavy punches to put Smith down again, good call by his corner to stop it, Beterbiev is still a danger

Beterbiev vs Bivol for undisputed next, 2 undefeated Russians, maybe the best fight to made in boxing

[Delta Jay]

6 feet vs 5'11

not too short unless you put them next to a huge freak mutant lhw like cal

Beterb is the second shortest light heavy in the top 10… so shortish considering he has a world class jab somthing normally associated with tall fighters.

Bivol is also shorter than average for elite light heavies.

Not short, shortish considering how good there jabs are.

There’s a reason they don’t have height classes.

You can be massive at a weight and still a bit short, and I think a lot of gyms drain their guys too far down.

[samwbr]

ya bert was much better this time than vs yarde. much more composed. looked to me like he had a lot more respect for callum as a threat than he did vs yarde, and the result was some very tiight power boxing

I don't see that.
Think Yarde was better than Smiff.

Who wins that if they fight?

[skanksta]

ya bert was much better this time than vs yarde. much more composed. looked to me like he had a lot more respect for callum as a threat than he did vs yarde, and the result was some very tiight power boxing

I don't see that.
Think Yarde was better than Smiff.

Who wins that if they fight?

Not that simple - “styles make fights” etc. but still Yarde is favourite. Even more so after yesterday.

[cormack]

just watched that this morning and am left seriously wondering how Bert can have such power in any punch no matter short long / jab etc and how he gets clattered a fair bit and shows no damage ...

yes I can admire his pressure and skills along with the efficiency etc but still in light of the Vada findings I just dont feel it can be natural .

[Ruthless-RKO]

CompuBox Stats

[Boxerbeetle]

It's always fun to watch guys like Berterbiev who have so much power, even off-balance arm punches seem to do damage. Loved GGG and Kov for the same reason.

Must admit I haven't been totally sold on Bert in the pros to date, but he convinced me last night. Showed how good he still is when faced with a proper challenger.

[TheLeprechaun]

The patience he showed in the fight was impressive.

[TheLeprechaun]

just watched that this morning and am left seriously wondering how Bert can have such power in any punch no matter short long / jab etc and how he gets clattered a fair bit and shows no damage ...

yes I can admire his pressure and skills along with the efficiency etc but still in light of the Vada findings I just dont feel it can be natural .

I've no doubt hes on something - like 99% of fighters.

However, he was feared in the amateurs as a puncher. 96 amateur wins, 37 by way of knockout and he was operating at the highest level. Thats a very high knockout percentage for an amateur. I just think he understands the sport at a high level. None of this toughness and hard man lark, just technical mastery of the sport.

Gvosdyk may well be the number 2 fighter at 175 pounds. I actually gave him the edge over Beterbiev but got that fight wrong. He's really an exceptional fighter himself. I would take him to beat Bivol. Bivol is probably number 3. Just my opinion. These three are very good operators.

Keep in mind, Andre Ward retired while in his prime. He's a smart guy and I've no doubt he scouted Beterbiev and didn't fancy it, having already made his money from the sport. FIve months after he retired, Beterbiev picked up one of the belts he had vacated. Ward has managed to totally avoid any mention that he swerved Beterbiev.

[Delta Jay]

Cal's a class fighter but seems too nice for the game. He's not alone in being at his most dangerous when hurt, but there's an obvious problem there against Bert.

I felt this really showed the contrast between pro and amateur styles from respective elites.

Good analysis mate

[Delta Jay]

ya bert was much better this time than vs yarde. much more composed. looked to me like he had a lot more respect for callum as a threat than he did vs yarde, and the result was some very tiight power boxing

I don't see that.
Think Yarde was better than Smiff.

Who wins that if they fight?

Callum absolutely bladders any UK LHW.

[Frostieballs]

The optimism around Smith going into this fight was very puzzling.

Completely different levels.

The two takeaways for me are:

- Yarde handles Smith easily
- US referees are still brutal in comparison to ours.

[Delta Jay]

The optimism around Smith going into this fight was very puzzling.

Completely different levels.

The two takeaways for me are:

- Yarde handles Smith easily
- US referees are still brutal in comparison to ours.

Callum will box the ears clean of Yarde and stop him late after AY predictably gasses. Quote this, bookmark this.

[samwbr]

I don't see that.
Think Yarde was better than Smiff.

Who wins that if they fight?

Callum absolutely bladders any UK LHW.

I'd like to see him against any of Yarde, Buatsi and Azeez

[TheLeprechaun]

The optimism around Smith going into this fight was very puzzling.

Completely different levels.

The two takeaways for me are:

- Yarde handles Smith easily
- US referees are still brutal in comparison to ours.

Callum will box the ears clean of Yarde and stop him late after AY predictably gasses. Quote this, bookmark this.

You probably are one of those who think Callum beat Ryder even though everyone knows that was an absolute robbery. Id favour Yarde, Buatsi and Lerrone Richards to beat Callum. Possibly Azeez too.

[Twinkle Toes]

Levels.

Smith not really competitive, he couldn't land anything regular despite trying his best.

[jameswilson]

The optimism around Smith going into this fight was very puzzling.

Completely different levels.

The two takeaways for me are:

- Yarde handles Smith easily
- US referees are still brutal in comparison to ours.

Callum will box the ears clean of Yarde and stop him late after AY predictably gasses. Quote this, bookmark this.

You probably are one of those who think Callum beat Ryder even though everyone knows that was an absolute robbery. Id favour Yarde, Buatsi and Lerrone Richards to beat Callum. Possibly Azeez too.

But not Lyndon Arthur who has a win over lazy Yarde?

[handsofstone]

Yarde's got a fight coming up on an undercard, is it Sheeraz/Williams? Either way I'm expecting it to be another one of these opponents who he's fought 90% of his career, let's hope it's someone we've heard of, the oddest career going

[margaret thatcher]

yarde in his 20th rematch with tba it looks like

a fighter best regarded for his ko losses. take away the guys who beat him and he has basically nothing on his record.