What Happened in the Smith vs Beterbiev Fight?

On the night of January 14th in Quebec, Canada, Callum Smith (29-2, 21 KOs) lost by TKO in the 7th round against champion Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) in a bout for the WBC, WBO, and IBF titles in the light heavyweight category (up to 79.4 kg).

Until the seventh round, the champion had the initiative, but the challenger took several rounds and landed solid punches. In the seventh round, the first knockdown occurred, followed by a finishing blow, leading to the second knockdown. After this, Callum Smith's corner withdrew him from the fight.

Judges' notes

Judges' notes indicate that at the time of the stoppage, Smith was behind on two judges' scorecards by two rounds (58-56), and on the third judge's scorecard, he lost almost all rounds (59-55).

Match statistics

CompuBox statistics show that Beterbiev landed 182 accurate punches out of 471, while Smith's numbers were 59 out of 366.

The champion's accurate jabs were 95 out of 247, and the challenger's were 28 out of 208. Beterbiev's accurate power punches were 87 out of 224, and Smith's were 31 out of 158.

What's next?

Regarding the future, Beterbiev expressed his desire to vie for absolute championship by facing WBA champion Dmitry Bivol.

Smith is uncertain about continuing his career, stating, "Now, I'll spend time with my family, and then we'll see. I've given a lot to boxing, but now I need to understand if I want to achieve more."