Tony Bellew seems concerned as Artur Beterbiev shows no signs of age and effortlessly destroyed Callum Smith in seven rounds on Saturday night.
Bellew says IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) is like “Peter Pan,” a Disney character who never ages.
Still discussing Beterbiev’s atypical December 6 test results, Bellew is suspicious of the unified champion. You can see that Bellew seems to be bothered by Beterbiev dominating at around his same age.
There’s nothing mysterious about why Beterbiev easily defeated Smith (29-2, 21 KOs) last Saturday night in Quebec City, Canada. He got inside Smith repeatedly and hit him until he hit the ground twice in the seventh.
Canelo Alvarez exposed the same flaws in Smith’s game by fighting him on the inside and winning by one-sided decision in 2020. Canelo wasn’t putting his punches together like Beterbiev was, so he couldn’t stop him.
Beterbiev defying age
“He’s Peter Pan. He’s getting younger by the looks of it,” Tony Bellew told talkSPORT Boxing about IBF, WBC and WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, who had an atypical test result in last December. “His testosterone levels show that he is the age of a 20-year-old man.”
Beterbiev had extensive amateur experience in Russia, competing in two Olympic Games and possibly beating 2012 gold medalist Oleksandr Usyk, but receiving a controversial decision.
Beterbiev clearly deserved the victory, but Usyk was a popular fighter at that year’s Olympics, as was Anthony Joshua. Both won questionable golds.
“He is defying age and I am not going to take away from his victory. I think he is an incredible fighter. From a technical point of view, he is formidable,” Bellew continued about Beterbiev.
browne factor
“He is an absolute force, but I can’t get past the fact that he is defying age. Marcus Browne gave him a tougher fight than either of them. [Anthony Yarde and Callum Johnson].
Browne also gave Beterbiev a tougher fight than Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Callum Smith would never beat the version of Marcus Browne that Beterbiev fought. Browne has not fought since his knockout loss to Beterbiev in 2021 and it is unclear if he is retired.
“I was 34 [fights]but keep in mind that this type [Beterbiev] He was one of the best fans in the world. This guy was fighting the best from around the world for an entire decade. Trust me, it has miles on the clock.
“There’s a reason his skin splits every time he takes a half-decent left hook. She has been on the pitch with the likes of Callum Johnson. He’s been in tough rounds with players like Anthony Yarde, but none of them were in the center of the ring with him.
“Marcus Browne outboxed him at times, but Marcus Browne is a different type of fighter. He is a strong lefty who moves well,” Bellew said. “Callum Smith tried to take that approach and tried to gain his respect from the first gates. He just couldn’t make a dent in it.”
Smith couldn’t box Beterbiev like Browne could because he wasn’t mobile and wasn’t as athletic. Browne is very athletic and skilled. He landed heavy blows on Beterbiev until the end of the ninth round, when he was dropped with an uppercut and was counted out.
“I have trained Callum; I’ve known Callum since he was a baby. Callum can go crazy. He hits from head to body effortlessly and didn’t get a single reaction from him,” Bellew said.
Smith will continue to struggle in his career because he doesn’t have enough skill to beat the best. We saw him fight John Ryder and Canelo before moving up to 175. Anthony Yarde, Joshua Buatsi and Craig Richards beat Smith. Callum returns to 168 because he is not cut out for the 175 pound division.
