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Callum Smith blames his loss to unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on being out of the ring for 17 months and not having a fight for 5-6 weeks in camp for their January 13 showdown.
Beterbiev loss fallout
In that fight, everything went wrong for Smith (30-2, 22 KOs). Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) blew him away in seven rounds and made him look like an average fighter.
Callum bounced back from that loss, knocking out little-known Colombian official Carlos Galvan (20-15-2, 19 KOs) in the fifth round on November 30 last year.
Next up for the 34-year-old Smith is interim WBO light heavyweight champion Joshua Buatsi on Feb. 22 on the Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 in Riyadh. If Callum can win this fight against the undefeated Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs), he could earn an eventual title shot against the winner of the Beterbiev-Bivol 2 rematch.
Few boxing fans believe Smith will defeat the tough 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Buatsi. Buatsi can punch, has a strong chin and is aggressive. In his last fight, he walked through pure hell, defeating Willy Hutchinson by a 12-round split decision on September 21 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Not known for being a bit of a puncher, Hutchinson hurt Buatsi several times in the fight only to stay in the fight and continuously shoot him. However, there were times when Buatsi looked like he was about to knock him out. The shots Joshua hit Hutchinson with in that fight would probably have been too much for Callum, and he would have folded for sure.
No more excuses
“I hate fighters who make excuses, but I had 17 months out of the ring, which then, you think, ‘I’m going to have a lot of fights’, but I didn’t. I didn’t do any sparring for five or six weeks before that. I didn’t prepare so good,” Callum Smith told Sky Sports Boxing about why he lost to unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev last year on January 13.
“Therefore, the preparation was not ideal. I have been out of the ring for 17 months. I really couldn’t afford to put him off again and have him out of the ring for two years. That was the challenge. He had the belts, he was the champion. You live and learn.
“I thought I was going to do well tonight and I didn’t. I lost the fight and I paid the price. I went out and assessed what was wrong. I think vThe corrected thing, I’ve gotten better and that’s why I’m a better fighter, Smith said.
It sure looks like Callum is making excuses for his loss. Well, I guess he has to say something to try to make sense of what happened to him in his loss against Beterbiev. It’s called “ego protection.”
“I didn’t do any sparring for five or six weeks beforehand” 🗣️
Callum Smith talks about his loss to Artur Beterbiev. pic.twitter.com/4j3CdyWOd7
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) January 14, 2025
