Callum Smith will give it another shot at world level, against WBO interim light heavyweight champion Joshua Buatsi on February 22 in Riyadh.
Is Buatsi Damaged?
It’s a big hurdle Smith has in front of him, challenging heavyweight Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs) for his interim belt, but he catches him at the right time. Buatsi, 31, is fighting with him Willy Hutchinson on September 21, and wounded him several times in that battle.
Hutchinson is not known for his strength, but he has shown what a fighter can do if he doesn’t quit and keeps coming. He also showed that Buatsi can be hurt and vulnerable if hit hard enough. Callum had the best strength, and he could take advantage of the cracks in Buatsi’s armor that Willy revealed.
Smith, 34, was knocked out in the seventh round earlier this year by joint heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on January 13. 12-year champion Smith (30-2, 22 KOs) made an attempt at a fight but was defeated by Beterbiev, who knocked him out with a flurry of weapons in the seventh.
Smith’s power
Some of the short shots that Smith hit Beterbiev with will give Buatsi big problems because he was swinging his hands to fence in that fight. Artur didn’t have a hard time finding him with his left hook, but he got through the shot to finally take him out.
In his last fight, on November 30, Smith defeated little-known Carlos Galvan by fifth-round knockout in a confidence builder.
Former WBA super middleweight champion Smith’s career has been on the decline since losing his title to Canelo Alvarez four years ago in a 12-round decision loss on December 19, 2020.
Smith has fought only four times since his match against Canelo, and it is clear that the money he received from that match allowed him to be unemployed. If Smith is going to use the time he has left in his career, he should try to fight at least three times a year instead of every year.
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