Artur Beterbiev maintained his perfect knockout record by defeating Callum Smith in seven rounds at the Center Videotron in Quebec City, Canada. Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) overwhelmed Smith (29-2, 21 KOs) and secured the victory, retaining the IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight titles.
In the post-fight interview, Beterbiev thanked Smith for putting up a good fight and acknowledged that the win was more about his opponent’s strength than luck. He expressed his desire to unify the light heavyweight division and face WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol in a long-awaited undisputed championship fight. Beterbiev’s promoter, Bob Arum, revealed plans for the potential match to take place after Ramadan and mentioned the possibility of holding the fight in July.
The fight marked Beterbiev’s first since defeating Anthony Yarde in January of the previous year. Originally scheduled for August, the Beterbiev-Smith bout was postponed due to a bone infection in Beterbiev’s jaw. Smith, a former Ring Magazine super middleweight champion, had won his last two fights following a defeat to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in September 2021.
