Artur Beterbiev vs Callum Smith: the most brutal knockout in world boxing is worth another night of glory

Callum Smith He is an unrepentant enthusiast like any boxer. And the sport that he has been practicing for 24 years, full of surprising results in the most important competitions, gives him reasons to sustain his joy. However, the mission he will have ahead of him this Saturday (ESPN 2 will broadcast from 10pm) at the Center Videotron in Quebec, Canada, will be a challenge to his optimism: he will try to take the titles of the medium heavyweight division from the World Boxing Council, the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization Artur Beterbieva man who knocked out all rivals who dared to share a ring with him.

No other professional world champion can boast of having made the judges’ work in vain in each of his presentations, in which all his opponents, with more or less tenacity, ended up waving the white flag before completing the agreed extension. Some were occasional rivals, but others were proven contenders like the four world champions or former world champions who faced him: Britain’s Joe Smith, American Tavoris Cloud, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Spain’s Gabriel Campillo. For everyone the result was identical..

Although his record is impressive, the boxer born in Khasavyurt, in the Republic of Dagestan (one of the 22 that make up the Russian Federation), and resident in Canada for more than a decade, is more than a ruthless boxer: he has an intensity, good technical foundations, forged over the years by amateurs (he was world amateur champion in Milan 2009 and Olympic representative in Beijing 2008 and London 2012), and the pride in overcoming difficult situations.

A good example of this was his last fight almost a year ago, on January 28, 2023, against the British Anthony Yarde at Wembley: the venue put him in difficulty and highlighted some vulnerabilities of the champion, who overcame adversity and ended up winning by technique. knockout in the eighth episode, when he was behind on the scorecards of two of the three judges.

This fight, the ninth world title bout in Beterbiev’s career, was supposed to take place on August 19 last year, but a jaw infection forced the monarch to undergo surgery and forced a postponement of almost five months. “I did everything possible not to postpone this fight, but the doctor said that it was not good (for me to fight) and that I would have to stop for two months,” explained the Russian, who trained for 25 days in his country before returning. to Montreal for the eight-week camp.

THE inactivity of this devout Muslim is one of the yellow lights that come on before his presentation in Quebec. The other is the inexorable passage of time: On January 21st the champion will turn 39. However, his working group does not consider this to be a problem. “When you grow up you have to change some little things otherwise you can’t continue boxing. Artur is very involved, tries to learn something every day in the gym and is a better technical fighter than he was a couple of years ago”, praised Marc Ramsay, the coach who has accompanied him since the beginning of his professional career.

With enough fuel and ambition in the tank, the modest Beterbiev has made it his main goal this year to collect all four belts in the middle heavyweight division. That search would lead him to face Dmitry Bivol. The unbeaten World Boxing Association champion retained his belt for the 10th time on December 23 with a points win over Britain’s Lyndon Arthur in Riyadh and also expressed his desire to become undisputed monarch. The final obstacle to this long-awaited lawsuit between the two Russians coming to fruition is Callum Smith. But the Englishman is not willing to be just a stepping stone.

“I’m a smarter boxer than Beterbiev and I can get him before he gets me. He takes shots and loses rounds. I know my best version can beat him. But I have to be disciplined in every second of every minute of every round”, explained the challenger, who is not stupid and knows what risks he is exposing himself to: “With an opponent of this level, he could fall in an instant. But knowing this brings out my sharpness and gives me the fear factor to start training.

In a house where gloves abounded, Smith, 33, followed in the footsteps of his three older brothers: Liam (35), still active, was a WBO middleweight champion, while Paul (41) and Stephen (38), now retired, they were World Cup contenders. Callum, who already held the WBA super middleweight title, has a record of 29 wins (21 before the cutoff) and one defeat.

The Liverpool man’s only setback was on December 19, 2020 in San Antonio against the Mexican Saulo Álvarez, who beat him comfortably on points. That autumn was a lesson. “I learned from that fight with Cinnamon. I made changes to my field and developed the areas I needed. When you’re champion you don’t focus so much on your flaws, but losing made me reflect and gave me more drive and determination to get back to where I was,” underlined the Englishman.

After that defeat, Smith, whose body was struggling to handle the scales, moved up to 175 pounds and recorded two quick wins against smaller rivals (Dominican Gilbert Castillo Rivera and Frenchman Mathieu Bauderlique). His last meeting was 17 months ago, so inactivity could be a burden for him too. “If you have a good field, nothing happens,” argued the candidate, who is clear that on Saturday he will face his most demanding challenge since he embraced boxing at the age of nine: “If (Beterbiev) is not my toughest rival in my career, I wouldn’t want to know who it could be.”

Doping that wasn’t

After weeks of preparation without too many fireworks, the last days before the fight were slightly overshadowed by a rumor about an alleged negative result that Beterbiev would have recorded in one of the routine doping tests that boxers undergo before fighting . level.

The alarms were triggered after an “atypical result” was recorded in the tests carried out by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had obtained the blood and urine samples that the sample had submitted on December 6. Unusual levels of human growth hormone (HGH) and 5-androstenediol were detected in them, two substances that the body produces naturally, but which can also be artificially introduced to improve sports performance.

An atypical result, such as this, does not imply the existence of doping. In these cases, WADA requires further testing to establish the origin of the substances. Beterbiev subjected them on December 15 (urine), December 21 (urine and blood) and January 3 (blood). Overall, the results were negative, as communicated by the body between January 5 and 8 to the promoters, the fighters’ managers, the sanctioning bodies for Saturday’s fight and the Quebec Boxing Commission.

Despite this, in Smith’s fold they have expressed concern and raised doubts about the situation. “There is no charge against Artur Beterbiev. If VADA believes this is not a negative outcome, then move forward. But we want to know more,” Eddie Hearn, the British promoter, said on Thursday. “I think there needs to be more transparency. We are not scientists, but we read the information and, obviously, we are concerned. VADA has not given us all the information that “We wanted to. All we want is for them to calm us down and I don’t think they have done that,” he lamented.

From the other corner, Beterbiev was instructed to respond to the suspicions through a statement. “I’m a clean athlete. I have never tested positive for a banned substance during my amateur and professional career and have complied with all VADA requirements and protocols in preparation for this fight. Any attempt to state the contrary, through insinuations or suggestions, is defamatory and slanderous. “This conduct goes beyond acceptable chatter in combat sports,” the Russian responded.