Wainwright weighs-in: Artur Beterbiev shows he’s still a beast with Callum Smith demolition

BOXING/MMA /

Artur Beterbiev punishes Callum Smith during their WBC, IBF and WBO light heavyweight title fight at the Videotron Center in Quebec City, Canada. (Photo by Mathieu Belanger/Getty Images)

Heading into Saturday’s light heavyweight showdown, there were questions over whether Artur Beterbiev had seen better days and would fall on his sword against Callum Smith.

The IBF, WBC and WBO champion will turn 39 in a few days and, along with an extensive amateur career, has had some tough fights as a professional, notably a high-impact showdown with another Brit, Anthony Yarde, in January spent in London. Beterbiev also had a bone infection in his jaw, which delayed the initial meeting with Smith by five months.

Well, the rumors about his death were greatly exaggerated. The Russian-born Montreal resident recorded one of, if not the best performances of his professional career, putting up a clinical beating of his opponent.

At first, he looked to make a statement by jumping on Smith and forcing him onto the ropes where the Brit covered himself. It seemed as if a message had been sent. “You’re in my hometown, in my weight class, and I’m the king here.” Later, when asked about this, he jokingly said, “I’m not strong, I don’t want to prove it to anyone.”

Beterbiev was very measured and calculating. It was fascinating to see his kind of violence live. Smith is an extremely good fighter, former Ring/WBA super middleweight champion. And although he didn’t look good taking Canelo Alvarez the distance in their December 2020 fight, he had always shown a good chin. From memory, I don’t remember Smith being visibly hurt or down during his career. The proud Scouser, 33, is tough and determined. He had a decent second round, as Beterbiev unloaded information and continued to stalk and pressure as he continued to land several meaty shots. His punches are heavy but seem effortless, his punches flow and leave a toll on those he hits.

Starting in the third round, Beterbiev got things going and, although he didn’t go full throttle, it seemed that while Smith was still alive, he was being torn apart. The defending champion had Smith hurt and covered against the ropes during one particular wild exchange in the fourth. He felt Smith still had something and said at the post-fight press conference, “Okay, I’ll come back later.”

And he came, he did. Smith began to visibly mark himself, he could not (few could) contain the stronger man, who came in waves and went to the body and then to the top with such precision.

I was amazed in the front row. It was truly a sight to see how dominant Beterbiev was. He stayed calm and then in Round 7, it looked like a shark had smelled blood in the water. It was time to close the show, put his prey out of his misery, so to speak. Beterbiev floored the challenger with a barrage of punches, as Smith bravely stood up, Beterbiev was in no mood to let the slaughter continue and he floored Smith again as the challenger looked to get back to his feet. As referee Michael Griffin counted it, his coach, Hall of Famer Buddy McGirt, had seen enough and wisely threw in the towel.

The 10,031 attendees at the Videotron Center greeted the end of the fight with loud cheers. They had witnessed a modern great dominate an extremely good fighter with considerable ease. He was crawling in death. This was high-end savagery at its finest and will likely see him return to The Ring’s legendary pound-for-pound ratings.

To quote Ricky Hatton, who once said of Gennadiy Golovkin: “That guy is an animal, if you found him in bed with your lady… you’d tuck him in!”

At the time of the interruption, Beterbiev was up 58-56 on two scorecards, while the third had him up 59-55.

According to CompuBox, Beterbiev outplayed Smith in every round, including the punches, from which he set up everything else. He went 172 for 471 with a 41.4 percent connect rate, never dropping below a 30 percent connect rate in any round. Meanwhile, Smith was 59 of 366, which was 16.1 percent, and never exceeded a 22.7 percent connection rate in any round.

Beterbiev (20-0, 20 knockouts) is the only world champion to have a 100% KO ratio in boxing. Some who don’t know him called him without personality. I heard the whispers last week. However, the truth is far from that. Around a fight, he turns inward. He is focused and lets his hands do the talking inside the ring. After or between fights, he has an attractive personality. He is playful and has a witty attitude. He made the media laugh several times at the post-fight press conference, where he clearly felt he could relax after having fought and won.

“It’s luck,” he told ESPN moments after the fight before giving credit to those closest to him. “He’s my coach. My team also works hard with me. Maybe that’s why too. But I think it’s luck.

“We had a couple of strategies. We always have more than one. We need to be prepared for several strategies. He gave me a good fight. He stayed strong. Thanks to him. Today luck is on my side.”

As the saying goes, “it’s better to be lucky than good.” He previously joked that his main motivation was to be a good boxer. Beterbiev was asked if he feels like a good boxer at the post-fight press conference, to which he joked: “I feel like I’m on the way, I’m not there yet.”

Beterbiev, a father of five and rarely seen outside the gym, is reserved and deeply religious. What he distributes inside the ring is ungodly. He doesn’t seek attention: “In the boxing gym, someone knowing me, that’s enough for me.

“To be honest, my kids don’t know what I do (for a living), they don’t.”

Fortunately, Smith was fine and in good spirits when I saw him later at the hotel. His face looked like he had been hit with a sledgehammer.

With Smith’s mandatory challenge eliminated, there is only one fight left to make at 175 pounds, a fight for all the belts plus the vacant Ring Magazine championship: Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol.

While Beterbiev had remained professional and was unwilling to talk about it, he again jokingly told me when I spoke to him the week before fight week: “Yes, it’s an idea, that’s what I would like to do, But don’t do it.” Tell that to anyone,” he said.

Now he’s more than happy to talk about the proposal.

“I think it’s going to happen,” he said.

However, first Beterbiev will observe Ramadan and then his team said they will give him three months to train, with the idea that the fight could take place in the summer.

Fingers crossed, things will work out because that would give both fighters the opportunity to further stamp their greatness on the sport. People like Beterbiev don’t come around very often, enjoy him while you can.

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter@AnsonWainwright

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