Callum Smith expects Dmitry Bivol to have emerged from October’s fight with Artur Beterbiev with the advantages heading into Saturday’s rematch.
At the Venue Riyadh Season in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Beterbiev and Bivol again contest the undisputed light-heavyweight title previously awarded to Beterbiev via majority decision in the main event of a promotion on which Joshua Buatsi will confront Smith.
It was in January 2024 when Smith was stopped in seven rounds by Beterbiev, who since October’s fight with Bivol has turned 40. The British light heavyweight also has, in Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, a shared opponent with Bivol, who defeated Alvarez in 2022 and who is 34 years of age.
Regardless of who most observers of their first fight scored in favour of, it has been widely recognised that Beterbiev needed to finish strongly to avoid defeat.
Smith, similarly, was impressed by Bivol’s performance at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, and to the extent that he believes that the combination of Beterbiev’s age and Bivol’s previous output will prove influential on Saturday night.
“Scoring it, I thought it was six apiece,” he told BoxingScene. “If I had to pick a winner, I felt probably Bivol. In all honesty, I could see an argument for either way. I thought Bivol gave away a lot of rounds by just sucking up a little bit too much and just needed to fire back that little bit more.
“But it was a really good fight to watch and I think it was just what you prefer – whether you prefer the pressure or the eye-catching boxing of Bivol. It was one of those fights where I don’t think you could have argued either way. I thought the draw was a fair result.
“It’s interesting. Rematches are always good to see who’s going to go away and change and stuff.
“I think Beterbiev was 40 a couple of weeks ago and I think Bivol started a little bit fresher. I think that last fight was a tough fight and probably took a little bit more out of Beterbiev at his age, rather than it did Bivol.
“I probably edge towards Bivol. But I think it would be a pretty similar fight really. I’d split them again.”
Smith and the undefeated Buatsi will contest for the WBO interim light-heavyweight title. The winner of their fight will therefore potentially progress to a fight with the winner of the main event.
“Skill-wise, Canelo was a better fighter,” the 30-2 (22 KOs) Smith responded when asked if Beterbiev is the best he has faced. “He was smarter. He was cleverer. He was much harder to hit clean. Beterbiev was just relentless and on top of it.
“He was effective and his pressure was there. It was a very small ring. It was hard to get any room with him.
“But in terms of ability, I still feel Canelo was a bit better. I feel if Canelo was bigger and the same height and the same size and that, I’d like to think Canelo would be a better fighter. Ability-wise, he was better.
“It’s just [Beterbiev’s] pressure. He throws a lot of shots so he stops you getting any form of rhythm or momentum, and yet he’s just always making you fight when you want to try and move. He’s just always front-foot pressure. He’s got that good European style of footwork where he cuts the ring off well.
“His momentum keeps you on the back foot and stops you getting any sort of rhythm.”
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