Beterbiev vs Smith - The tale of the tape for the big fight

Quebec City will be in the middle of the boxing world this weekend. The fans in Quebec have always been some of the best in boxing, producing some special atmospheres in the past for home heroes. One of the most memorable was at the Bell Centre in January 2014 when Jean Pascal took on Lucian Bute. An early fight on the undercard of the Pascal vs Bute date was a certain Artur Beterbiev taking on and beating Gabriel Lecrosnier to take his record to 4-0. 

Beterbiev is currently the light-heavyweight title holder in the IBF, WBO and WBC with this only his second defence on home soil. The Videotron Centre is going to be buzzing this weekend with the prospect of this fight against the British challenger Callum Smith. 

The betting sites are going to be busy with pricing up markets for this bout and there is no doubt that there are going to be some serious bets struck as there are in most of the big boxing cards these days. There is a decent undercard to enjoy as well and we will take a look at the two big bouts that stand out here as well as make a prediction for the Beterbiev vs Smith fight.

On paper, this could be a classic main event. Add to the mix a partisan crowd, a challenger who is feeling disrespected ahead of the bout and a five-month extra wait for this fight and this is bubbling up to be a night that you will not want to miss.

It was in the spring last year that the WBC told Beterbiev that he would need to defend his belt against a challenger of their choosing and it was Callum Smith who got the call to be the 20th fight for Beterbiev. Smith has fought in North America on three occasions so far in his career but this will be his debut fight in Canada.

It was not an easy task getting the fight on with the boxers originally not able to come to an agreement but Top Rank won a purse bid which has seen the fight on the books and one that the boxing world has been looking forward to for quite some time now.

The fight was originally scheduled for August last year but a bone injection in Beterbiev’s jaw after some dental work meant an operation and a delay for this fight. That delay is going to make this fight all the more keen, especially from the challenger’s point of view given the talk this week about Beterbiev taking on Dmitry Bivol in Saudi Arabia later this year. 

There is no doubt that Beterbiev is the clear favourite to win the fight but the talk of his next defence after taking on Smith will have been considered as hugely disrespectful by the Smith camp. He is a smart fighter in his own right and these discussions will make him even more determined to play spoiler.

Artur Beterbiev is one of the finest punchers in the business. There are few who have been able to live with him for any length of time so far in his career. Beterbiev enters the fight this weekend with a perfect record of 19 wins from 19 fights with each and every one of those coming via knockout. 

He was an exceptional amateur boxer from his days in his native Russia, winning both European and World Championship gold medals. The one that eluded him as an amateur was an Olympic gold, Beaten by Zhang Xiaoping in the last 16 in 2008, that was a controversial decision with Xiaoping going on to win the gold medal. 

In 2012 in London Beterbiev was beaten by Oleksandr Usyk. There was no disgrace in being beaten by Usyk at the time and hindsight has shown that to be even more so given that Usyk has become one of the finest boxers in any weight class in recent years, having a perfect 21 for 21 record in his professional career.

A move to Canada to turn professional has proven to be a great decision in the years since. He would win his first fight after turning pro in July 2013 and has not looked back since. While his fights have been few and far between in recent times (just four since October 2019) it has made each one something to look forward to as they are rarely anything other than exciting.

Callum Smith hails from Liverpool, England. A city that always sees itself as a scrappy underdog and constantly underrated has raised a fighter with a bulldog spirit and an ability to get the job done even when it looks like an impossible task. His three older brothers are all boxers as well so it is very much a family thing that he was born to do.

Smith is no stranger to holding a title belt, claiming the WBA super middleweight in 2018 and holding it until 2020 when suffering the only defeat of his career at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. 29 wins from 30 fights is still a remarkable record that Smith has to his credit with 21 of those wins by knockout. 

He has a height and reach advantage over Beterbiev, three inches (8cm) taller and with a reach that is five inches (13cm) longer than the champion. Those could be the key to his chance. Beterbiev as mentioned is one of the finest punchers at any weight in the world at present so keeping out of the way of those hands is going to be the way that Smith has his best chance of causing an upset.

Whether he is going to be able to get close enough to Beterbiev to land a telling blow is going to be the question with the Russian-Canadian not needing too much in the way of opportunities to land the punches he requires. Smith is a solid fighter and younger than the champion but is that going to be enough for him to cause an upset in Quebec?

With such a strong main event, there needs to be an excellent undercard of fights in the leadup to Beterbiev and Smith strutting their stuff. This is the perfect opportunity for some of the future stars of Canadian boxing to show what they can do and it does look like an undercard that is going to be talked about for some time afterwards as there should be some excellent bouts to be had.

Both the second and third top matches will feature Australian talent and another title fight on the evening so there is going to be plenty to enjoy. The early bouts should feature some of the future stars just as there was when Beterbiev was on the undercard of the Pascal vs Bute fight a decade ago. It looks like a night that has ‘do you remember when’ written all over it when we look back another decade down the line. 

Jason Moloney vs Saul Sanchez

The biggest bout on the undercard will see the WBO Bantamweight title belt on the line. Moloney is an Australian fighter who won the belt in his most recent fight, last May against Vincent Astrolabio. That took his career record to 26-2 which includes 19 wins by KO.

Sanchez has also only got two losses on his record to go with 20 wins. The Californian is only 26 and Moloney will turn 33 on Wednesday so he has youth on his side. Neither have much of an advantage in reach with both the same height so there should be little between them here.

The prices from the bookmakers have Moloney favourite to make a successful first defence of his belt but he is the longest price of the three favourites in the big three fights on the night. Moloney’s last four fights have all gone to decision as have two of the last three bouts that Sanchez has had so there is a strong case for thinking that this could go the distance. For those looking for a bet on this fight, that is the way that we would be looking, Moloney to win the fight by decision.

Christian Mbilli vs Rohan Murdock 

France vs Australia here, Mbilli is yet to taste defeat in his career, arriving with a 25-0 record with 21 of those wins coming via KO. Murdock is 27-2 with 19 KO’s so far in his career so they have enjoyed plenty of success between them.  

Canada has become a second home for Mbilli who has fought 13 times in Canada so far. He is one of the top super middleweights on the planet at present and his experience of fighting in Quebec should be a help to him.

Murdock has only fought outside of Australia on three occasions. One of those was in Manchester, England where he suffered one of his two defeats. Hailing from Australia, he has a different style to most of the fighters that Mbilli has faced so it could make for an interesting time in the early rounds as Mbilli finds his feet and a way to adapt to the style. 

This fight has the potential to be a little more one-sided than the main event of the evening. There is no doubt that Murdock is a solid fighter, especially on his own home turf but this is a first trip to Canada for him and in Mbilli, he faces a fighter who has plenty of wins on Canadian soil and is yet to be defeated. It would be quite a surprise if Mbilli does not make it 26-0 here.

There is always an extra level of pressure on a home fight. The majority of the big fights in Beterbiev’s career have come in other countries so this is going to be a fight that means so much to him. 10 of his first 11 fights came in Quebec but only once since he beat Marcus Browne in December 2021. 

Beterbiev already has a couple of wins over British boxers. One of those came at Wembley Arena in London when he stopped Anthony Yarde in eight rounds. That was the most recent time that he has been seen in action back in January 2023.

Smith has been quoted in the press as looking forward to the challenge and perhaps acting as a spoiler. His promoter Eddie Hearn has certainly been talking up his fighter and drawing comparisons with another Callum (Johnson) who put Beterbiev on the canvas before eventually losing to him back in 2018. That will be no surprise to anyone as Hearn does plenty of talking!

The big negative that Beterbiev has is that he will be 39 later this month while Smith is 33. A younger man who is taller and with a significant reach advantage is going to be a bigger fight for Beterbiev than the prices seem to think that it will be.

Only one of Beterbiev’s first 11 fights went longer than the fourth round, in his eight since, five have gone to the eighth round or further. Of course, with the belts in his possession, Beterbiev has been taking on a stronger level of fighters but does Eddie Hearn have a point that age and physical setbacks could be the undoing of Beterbiev?

We still think that Beterbiev will get the job done but the most recent of his fights suggest that this could be another bout that goes a fair way towards the 12-round limit. He is going to have to work hard to keep out of the reach of Smith but can get the better of the Brit when he has to. Perhaps Beterbiev in rounds 7-12 is the option here. It is not a big price but it feels like the right take on a boxing match that should have Quebec City absolutely rocking.