In Fairness To Callum Smith...

Smith showed a ton of heart.

McGirt should have stopped it after that first knock down, though. The fight was unequivocally over with that first knockdown. c'mon, Buddy..

 

Again guys of a similar build to Smith, he'll always look good (Fielding, Skoglund, Castillo, Bauderlique)

But he's always struggled against the tough, shorter, stocky guys......Ryder, Canelo and Beterbiev.

 

He's not a great fighter.

But he is a very tough fighter with a lot of heart.

 

It was over for Smith but I think McGirt stopped it a little early…

 

I thought the same thing immediately after the stoppage but when Smith went down to his knees once he found out the fight was over I changed my mind. I hate early stoppages but, in this case, I believe McGirt did the right thing.

 

Callum Smith fought a brave fight, much better than his showing against Canelo. Beterbiev breaks boxers down methodically, which is why he has always achieved the stoppage. He doesn't headhunt for the single shot, which is an issue with many boxers who fall in love with their power fighting lower ranked opponents and then can't find the big shot against better opposition.

Callum Smith has a solid chin, and I highly doubt Beterbiev would have stopped him with a head-hunting approach. This to me is why Beterbiev will get to Bivol. He will break him down. There is no way Bivol can avoid all of the punches that will be thrown by Beterbiev, and each punch will exponentially bring the end closer. It is possible that I have underestimated Bivol and he can put on a boxing master-class, but I believe that because Bivol beat Canelo he is being overrated.

 

The fight turned out exactly as predicted

 

He did very well given how small the ring was, he might have had a better chance if he had a bigger ring to move around in.

 

Callum Smith looked like he did against Canelo, his recent ko's created speculation among some that he'd be better at 175. Beterbiev just walked through him behind a superior jab, against a taller fighter with a big reach advantage. Only thing that surprised me about this fight was how easily Beterbiev busted him up. In his corner after the 3rd round Callum's face looked like he'd already gone 10.

 

He did throw the jab but couldn't land it consistently.