What do you think Callum Smith's chances are?

Beterbiev will be 39 y/o by the time they climb into the ring, in what will be his 30th year boxing, with over 300 amateur bouts under his belt fighting with a very aggressive style and three decades of the wear and tear of hard training on his body and he's a notorious gym rat who trains extremely hard.

Also the Yarde fight was a war and wars tend to take a lot out if you at that age. Look at Povetkin vs Hunter. Sure Povetkin was well past his best before then but he was a mere shell of himself after that war and shipping all that punishment.

Beterviev should win but Smith is a talented, skilled and very well schooled fighter when he's firing on all cylinders and he's got fast hands, big power and he throws sneaky shots in between yours. He's never never been dropped and has looked really powerful at 175, scoring two HL reel KOs. The first of which chilling

This content is protected

This content is protected

When you keep facing big punchers you're playing Russian roulette everytime you step into the ring and one day you're going to pull the trigger when the bullet is in your chamber

Gvozdyk
Joe Smith
Johnson
Hot Rod
Yarde
Cloud
Browne
Prieto

And now Callum Smith

 

Since I'm picking Smith for the upset here, I rate his chances quite highly. Beterbiev fights nothing like Canelo and Ryder, so comparisons to those two matches are irrelevant. When bigger guys land on Callum, his initial response as been to throw back twice as hard, just look at the Fielding, Mohoumadi and Bauderlique firefights. Beterbiev isn't as defensively sound as Canelo or Ryder, doesn't come in behind an airtight high guard or duck down in come in from a southpaw position. Beterbiev tends to square up right in front of his opponents when attacking and historically, that's how almost every one of Smith's victims have met their fate. They put themselves into position to eat one of his his left hooks. Callum's chin is solid enough to take as much of a beating as Yarde and he's a far smarter boxer than Yarde. So if Yarde could catch him in as many exchanges as he did, Callum, whose bread and butter is catches guys in exchanges, definitely will and plenty of times. The question is, can this Wilder next to inactive Beterbiev still take it. The last time he fought a guy like Smith in Johnson, he almost got KTFO. If an undrained Smith who is hitting A LOT harder at Light Heavyweight lands a similar shot. Beterbiev might not get up this time.