BoxRec

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑29 Jan 2023, 14:37 People say Smith didn’t do anything against Canelo.

What happened was. By rd2, Canelo had targeted Smith’s arm.. so Smith couldn’t even lift his arms to throw a punch.

That’s why he was a sitting duck the whole fight.

He showed off his arms after the fight too.

very tru but why didnt callum immediately give it back on canelos bicep and cause him the same issue

im going against the flow with a callum smith decision based on him never being stopped and that ability to get the win even when it looked in doubt ie ryder .
but I doubt the fight gets made anyway as I see the Bivol v Bert fight as being absolutely massive and will easily take priority and maybe callum takes a chunk for step aside and has another fight meantime .

stevec@france wrote: ↑30 Jan 2023, 10:39

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑29 Jan 2023, 14:37 People say Smith didn’t do anything against Canelo.

What happened was. By rd2, Canelo had targeted Smith’s arm.. so Smith couldn’t even lift his arms to throw a punch.

That’s why he was a sitting duck the whole fight.

He showed off his arms after the fight too.

very tru but why didnt callum immediately give it back on canelos bicep and cause him the same issue

Cus he wasn’t as clever enough..

Too late to change a game plan when you can’t lift ur arms.

Don’t think Canelo targeted the arms as such it was just that when Smith was backed to the ropes he went into a defensive shell and Canelo didn’t have much he cud hit other than the arms!!
Reason Smith lost, or performed below expectations was because he was unable to control things with his jab. This is a huge key for him against most opponents…

What is Smiths best win? Anyone saying Groves must accept DeGale as Eubank jrs too.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑30 Jan 2023, 12:04 What is Smiths best win? Anyone saying Groves must accept DeGale as Eubank jrs too.

Off the top of my head Smith's best win is either Groves, Ryder*, Bauderlique or Fielding. It depends what people give more weight to. Eubank's best win is probably either DeGale, Williams or the ghost of Arthur Abraham.

I give Smith half a chance here, he's a gigantic LHW with reach, power, and presumably won't be nearly so drained as he was before. He might just find Beterbiev and hurt him enough to win. The much more likely scenario, however, is that Beterbiev patiently hammers him into his shell within a few rounds and there he stays.

Agree wholeheartedly with Dookus (apart from I wouldn't give Smith half a chance).

Beterbiev has power and can control a fight at his tempo because of that. He dismantled Yarde - the fact Y was up on two cards (one of which was nonsensical) was irrelevant to B.

I was watching Smith's last fight recently and was thinking he was the wide open one (re Bellew), it was more of a slugfest...great ko but until then it was very open...it could be that Smith had a GGG mindset, meaning he didn't feel the power so walked through to get to him. In any case that Smith gets knocked out by Beterbiev, in my humble opinion.

Loynesy wrote: ↑30 Jan 2023, 13:15 Agree wholeheartedly with Dookus (apart from I wouldn't give Smith half a chance).

Beterbiev has power and can control a fight at his tempo because of that. He dismantled Yarde - the fact Y was up on two cards (one of which was nonsensical) was irrelevant to B.

Maybe a sliver of an off-chance would be more accurate

Beterbiev vs. Smith: Top Rank Exec Floats Fight For ‘End of Summer’ In Montreal

Artur Beterbiev’s next fight is already taking preliminary shape.

The WBC, WBO, IBF Russian light heavyweight bruiser is coming off a thrilling eighth-round stoppage over game Anthony Yarde, the WBO mandatory challenger, last Saturday night at OVO Arena Wembley in London.

According to Carl Moretti, the vice president of Top Rank, which promotes Beterbiev, the next fight for the Russian knockout artist may come against yet another mandatory, the WBC’s top contender in England’s Callum Smith.

Moretti said they would look to stage this fight in Beterbiev’s adopted hometown of Montreal, Canada, sometime in the late summer. The 38-year-old Beterbiev, a devout Muslim, observes the Ramadan holiday that will last a month starting from late March, so he would not be available to fight in the spring.

“With Artur Beterbeiv’s win over Anthony Yarde, we now have a number of possibilities for his next fight,” Moretti told Le Journal de Montreal. “We would probably be obliged to offer a fight to Callum Smith, the mandatory for the WBC. We would like to stage this fight in Montreal at the end of the summer.”

The 32-year-old Smith (29-1, 21 KOs), a former titlist at 168, is promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, a business rival of Top Rank. Hearn has repeatedly insisted that Smith will be in line to face the winner of Beterbiev-Yarde.

If a deal cannot be consummated between the two parties, the fight would go on to a purse bid, meaning the company that turns in the higher dollar amount will retain rights to stage the fight on their preferred network; Top Rank deals with ESPN, Matchroom with DAZN.

Moretti said it is still up in the air which company Top Rank would link up with if they decide to stage Beterbiev’s next fight in Montreal. Top Rank has working relationships with both Eye of the Tiger Management and GYM, two of the most visible promotional companies in Canada.

Top Rank collaborated with GYM, the company led by Yvon Michel, on Beterbiev’s hometown title defense against Marcus Browne in December 2021.

“On the other hand, Marc Ramsay (Beterbiev's trainer) is close with [Eye of the Tiger Management founder] Camille Estephan and we have deals with EOTTM for Arslanbek Makhumodv and Simon Kean,” Moretti pointed out, referring to two highly regarded heavyweights.

Beterbiev retained his undefeated record after his win over Yarde on Saturday, improving to 19 wins, with 19 knockouts.

Hearn has said WBC will order this next.

Artur Beterbiev Vs. Callum Smith Possible For Liverpool Says Eddie Hearn

Hearn wants the Beterbiev-Smith fight to take place in Callum’s hometown of Liverpool, and he believes it’s possible.

The other alternative is to stage the fight in the Middle East in Abu Dhabi, which would make Smith a lot of money.

“He wanted that fight before Beterbiev. We obviously know now that the Beterbiev fight is happening, but in an ideal world, he would have been in the ring on Saturday night and gone through the process, got a good win, and geared up for that massive fight,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about Callum Smith pulling out of his fight against Pawel Stepien that was previously scheduled for this Saturday night in Liverpool.

“The plan was to fight in preparation for the Beterbiev fight. I wanted to stay active,” said Callum Smith. “As Eddie said, I did the full camp and did the hard work and not get to fight and get paid. It’s unfortunate

“I’ve got to look at the end goal, and that’s to be world champion. Ideally, I would have liked to have gotten a win and rolled into a world title fight. I still believe I become world champion this year,” said Callum.

“No, but it’s going to be ordered,” said Hearn when asked if the Beterbiev vs. Callum Smith fight is a done deal. “The WBC has already written to all parties and said, ‘We’re going to respect Ramadan for Beterbiev,’ but after that negotiations will begin and hopefully straight forward.

“He’s been to England before, and there’s already a model in place between Top Rank and Beterbiev, and we’re desperate to do the fight at the Echo or M&S. It’s such a great fight for that arena. We’d love to do it outside, but Anfield is not possible this summer.

“I just feel that’s a special arena. For a fight like that, it would be fantastic to do it in Liverpool. Probably, yeah,” said Hearn when asked if the Beterbiev vs. Smith fight would make more money if it were staged in Abu Dhabi.

“Callum is on the smaller piece as the challenger, but it’s still a massive name in the fight. If you asked him where he’d prefer to do it, the answer would be in Liverpool. Beterbiev might want more money, and maybe the economics would only work in the Middle East. “But we’ll be doing everything we can to bring the fight to Liverpool,” said Hearn.

“I’d like it in Abu Dhabi,” said Smith.

“With Beterbiev, maybe it’s a little easier to do it in the Middle East. If there’s more money and his religion as well, I’m sure he’d love to fight out there as well. We’ll have to see, but the good news is that process has begun with the WBC, and he’s going to get his chance to be a two-division champion.

“I think in terms of wins, I think you go Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, Callum Smith, and then you’ve got Anthony Yarde, Joshua Buatsi, and a lot of good fighters. But for me, Callum is a better fighter domestically than others because of his track record what he’s achieved in his career, and because of his quality,” said Hearn.

Smith isn't a complete no-hoper against anyone, not even Bert.
He's big at the weight, durable and got a ton of of KOs.

But it is BERT he's fighting - he's HOF/ATG? level.
I'm thinking "can Smith be the first to last the distance?" rather than, "can Smith win?"

Hearn On Beterbiev-Smith: We Expect A Deal To Get Done, Would Love To Do The Fight In Liverpool

There appears to be daylight in ongoing talks for a mandatory light heavyweight championship fight.

Two of the sport’s biggest promotional outfits continue to work on a deal that will satisfy all parties for an ordered Artur Beterbiev-Callum Smith bout. Top Rank promotes Beterbiev (19-0, 19KOs), the lineal, WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion, while Liverpool’s Smith—the WBC number-one contender—is represented by Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing. Common ground has been found between both sides, who want the fight and are interested in it taking place sometime in early summer.

Where the fight lands geographically and platform are among the few remaining unresolved matters, though by no means a dealbreaker.

“We have an extension to the negotiations. We had a little bit of time before the purse bids are called but we expect a deal to get done,” Hearn informed BS.com. “Naturally, we would love to do the fight in Liverpool. There is some interest in the Middle East as well.”

Top Rank has expressed interest in staging the fight in Canada. Beterbiev has lived in Montreal since turning pro in 2013 after representing his native Russia in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics. With that would come the expectation of staging the championship clash on an ESPN platform, with whom Top Rank has enjoyed an exclusive output deal since 2017.

Matchroom Boxing is the primary content provider for sports streaming platform DAZN.

The two services have collaborated in the past, including for the Kenshiro Teraji-Hiroto Kyoguchi junior flyweight championship unification clash last November 1 in Saitama, Japan. The bout aired on ESPN+ in the U.S. and DAZN in select global markets.

Similarly, Beterbiev made his most recent title defense across multiple platforms. His eighth-round knockout of WBO mandatory challenger Anthony Yarde took place on January 28 at OVO Arena Wembley in London. Yarde is promoted by Queensberry Promotions, who does all of its business with UK-based BT Sport which aired the fight live to its subscribers. U.S. fans were able to catch the action via ESPN+.

There is no reason to believe that a similar arrangement cannot be made for Beterbiev-Smith.

“As far as the networks, there is a model in place from the Yarde fight. We can do something similar, where we let Bob have the U.S. market and we get the UK, etcetera,” noted Hearn.

Beterbiev has made seven successful defenses of at least one light heavyweight title dating back to his November 2017 IBF title win over Enrico Koelling. He has since added the WBC and WBO belts with knockout wins over Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Joe Smith Jr.

Smith (29-1, 21 KOs) previously held the WBA super middleweight title before his reign ended in a December 2020 defeat to then pound-for-pound king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs). He has since brought his 6’3” frame to the light heavyweight division, where the 32-year-old Smith has won his past two starts, both well inside the distance. He became the mandatory challenger to Beterbiev’s WBC title following a fourth-round knockout of Mathieu Bauderlique in their August 20 title eliminator in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Beterbiev is tabbed as a heavy favorite to win the fight. Smith’s side is confident of pulling off the upset—as well as landing a favorable location for the event.

“I firmly believe Callum Smith can win that fight,” noted Hearn. “I want to put him in the best position possible to become the unified light heavyweight champion of the world. Hopefully, we can get it made for July.”

Great to see Callum smith earn his light heavyweight title shot.

gregregegg wrote: ↑12 Apr 2023, 03:58 Great to see Callum smith earn his light heavyweight title shot.

yeh, two excellent wins at 175.

Mathieu Bauderlique and Lenin Castillo

Matchroom lose another purse bid…

By £15k

Top Rank’s winning bid was $2,115,000, just $15,000 more than the $2,100,000 offered by Matchroom.

Beterbiev is entitled to 70% of 90% of the winning bid, a purse of $1,332,450.

Smith’s purse, based on 30% of 90% of the winning bid, is $571,050.

The remaining 10 percent of Top Rank’s winning offer, $190,350, will be awarded to whoever wins.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑02 May 2023, 16:22 Matchroom lose another purse bid…

To be fair Smith has the bollocks not to pull out like a sh1t house. Like Top Ranks fighters.

gregregegg wrote: ↑12 Apr 2023, 03:58 Great to see Callum smith earn his light heavyweight title shot.

I'm looking forward to it. I doubt Smith is going to get away with turtling for 12 rounds like he did with Canelo, so it will get interesting

Hearn’s response to losing purse bid

“I am gutted - 15 grand. I bid $2,100,000 and they bid $2,115,000. Everyone has said they must have known what our bid was to only beat it by that much but in reality when there have been offers made throughout a period of negotiation you know roughly what the other side’s bid will be.

“Having said that, it’s very unusual to lose it by so little - I’ve never had a purse bid that close. I’ve lost by 30 or 40 grand before but never as little as 15 on a bid as high as 2.1m. And I was so close to making it 2.2. I was literally a minute from bidding that much.

“But we were bidding to probably lose money on the fight which means it’s not quite as painful as others but I was gutted because I really wanted to have Callum’s fight in Liverpool. I text Callum straight after telling him there was only 15,000 in it. He was gutted as well.”

With Hearn desperate to put it on at Anfield and DAZN being such a global success you would have thought he would have bid a lot more.