Beterbiev vs. Smith Fight Results: Beterbiev Stops Smith In Seven Rounds

Knockout artist Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) kept his knockout streak alive against Callum Smith Saturday night with a seventh-round stoppage of the former super middleweight champ in a match for Beterbiev’s IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight titles.

Beterbiev was crisp from the start. While both men were active, Beterbiev was more precise (landing 20 punches to Smith’s 6). Smith was more competitive in the second, but starting with the third, Beterbiev’s thudding blows began to break Smith down. Giving up four inches to Smith, Beterbiev took away his opponent’s height advantage by continually chopping away at the body. By the end of the fifth round, Beterbiev was largely unmarked, whereas Smith was becoming a bloody mess. While Beterbiev is known more for being a puncher, his boxing skills were on notable display—particularly the stiff left jab that Beterbiev used to work his way inside of Smith’s superior reach. Smith is a fine boxer, and he would occasionally have a moment that might have given him hope, but Beterbiev remained undeterred throughout.

And then in round seven, Beterbiev did something that no one had ever done before—he knocked Callum Smith down. Smith picked himself up, but the fight was essentially over at that point. Soon after, Smith went down again after another brutal onslaught by Beterbiev. While Smith was able to beat the count, his trainer Buddy McGirt, quite rightly, entered the ring and waved to fight off with a minute left to go in the round.

It’s hard to know what to make of Beterbiev’s latest beatdown. As I said before, Smith is an excellent fighter (his only previous loss being a lopsided decision defeat at the gloves of Canelo), but Smith is another in a long line of B+/A- type fighters on Beterbiev’s record (not to mention Smith was coming off a 16-month layoff). That’s not to say that Beterbiev should have any shame over who he’s fought, it’s just that we’ve never seen him against a true A-lister, and let’s face it, there’s levels to this shit. At nearly 39 years old and with only 20 fights on his record, the time for Beterbiev to build an all-time great case is winnowing. That’s why his next fight should be against Dmitry Bivol, a long, tall tactician that will truly stretch Beterbiev in a way that no one ever has. The sands are running out of the hourglass for the Canadian by way of Russia. The time is now.

To Beterbiev’s credit, he acknowledged the need for a Bivol fight to happen in the post-fight interview. His promoter, Bob Arum, seemed eager for the bout too. One thing’s for sure: if Beterbiev-Bivol happens, no matter which boxer comes out on top, the sport of boxing wins.

CHRISTIAN MBILLI STOPS ROHAN MURDOCK IN A FAN FRIENDLY FIGHT

Just before the hostilities between Beterbiev and Smith took place, a rising star at 168, Christian Mbilli (France by way of Cameroon – 26-0, 22 KOs), attempted to make a statement against Aussie Rohan Murdock (27-3, 19 KOs) for the WBC Continental Americas Super Middleweight title. It’s no secret that Mbilli (like so many others) is chasing after a big payday against Canelo Alvarez. Mbilli, the former 2016 Olympic competitor for France, hurt Murdock twice with a hook and an uppercut in the second round. Pressure is the name of Mbilli’s game, and Murdock, despite wagging his tongue at Mbilli early, was not able to return nearly enough fire to keep the young contender at bay. Mbilli kept up the pressure in the third, rocking the live but overmatched Murdock multiple times with his heavy hands and high-volume inside punching. Mbilli legitimately knocked out the mouthpiece of Murdock in the fourth with a hard right hand. The motor on Mbilli is particularly notable.

He’s not just a hard-hitter, he seems to have a deep gas tank to fight at the pace he does. The beating Mbilli put on Murdock in the fifth had to make you question whether Murdock’s corner would send their charge back out for what was clearly going to be more of the same, but they did. Murdock answered with what was mostly his best round in the sixth, but the pummeling Mbilli put on him led Murdock’s corner to appropriately choose discretion and end the fight after the round. Mbilli is in no way a perfect fighter. He neglects his defense, he’s there to be hit, but my goodness, he is fun to watch. He is strong, hits like a sledgehammer, and is relentless. In no way is Murdock on the level of Canelo or Benavidez, but Mbilli made a fine statement in putting on a powerful display against a game and experienced opponent. Mbilli is one to watch.

JASON MOLONEY SQUEEZES OUT MAJORITY DECISION IN WHAT WAS AN ALL OUT WAR

On the main televised undercard of the Beterbiev-Smith headliner in Quebec, Aussie Jason Maloney (27-2, 19 KOs)opened the festivities by holding onto his WBO bantamweight title, winning a spirited 12-round majority decision over his Mexican-American opponent Saul Sanchez (20-3, 12 KOs). In a fight with lots of action and continual ebbs and flows, Maloney kept his belt (in his first title defense) despite being slightly out landed by his opponent. One judge had the fight even (114-114), and the other two scored the bout 116-112 for Maloney.

It was a terrific bout, where the even scorecard felt closer to correct than the two that found Maloney winning twice as many rounds as Sanchez, who one could argue outworked, and by complex numbers, found his target more often than Maloney. Mostly, as a fight fan, you wouldn’t have minded the whole fight being reset to zero and have them both do it again. By all rights and clear eyes, Sanchez earned a rematch, but even if he doesn’t get one, he has surely strengthened his name in the division.

David Phillips

David Phillips has been writing on boxing for just over a decade for The Sweet Science and NY Fights. He runs his own blog dedicated to the appreciation of classic and overlooked films, reelreframe.com, and writes on film and television for Awards Daily. His essay “My Black Grandpa” was shortlisted as “Best of Folklore” by The Bitter Southerner in 2018. Author of Goodnight to the Peoples. You can follow David on Twitter @BrotherJulius83

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