Artur Beterbiev vs Callum Smith this Saturday

[LondonRingRules]

--- What, no Brits salivating over Englishman Callum Smith challenging Russian Artur Beterbiev for his unified titles this Saturday in Quebec City?

Heresy I say!!!

[WelshDevilRob]

Inactive vs Inactive. Callum's only hope is that Beterbiev is old. But seems his testosterone levels are high 🙂

[Cableaddict]

Love me some Callum,  but bet the farm on Beter.

Yeah he's getting old, but he's still got it. His style doesn't demand a young man's stamina. His reflexes are still good, and of course has has the hammer of the gods at his disposal.

Inactivity is always a factor, but Smith has fought even less than Beter in the last 4 years.

 

Beter didn't look his best against Yarde, but that was likely (in part) ring rust. Also, Yarde is a very dangerous puncher. Combine that with Beter maybe wanting to finally get a few decent rounds in, and he probably fought conservatively for a while, on purpose. Sure, they traded punches, but maybe that let Beter work on his oft-unneeded defense, and it's not like Yarde ever hit him with anything serious. And Beter certainly closed the show like always.

 

Also, while I'm a big Smith fan (of course) we now know what happens when he finally faces a super-tough and relentless pressure fighter that has no intention of backing down or being bullied.

Beter is basically Canelo with a bigger punch. This one won't go to the cards.

[LondonRingRules]

--- One Beter weakness I didn't address is his postponement of this fight after a tooth infection, ie just conjure up the results of Pancho Villa vs Jimmy McLarnin...

BoxRec: Pancho Villa

End of the day, other than the doping controversy that was tamped down with convoluted WADA/VADA/WBC protocol, Beter's infected jaw the only thin preventing a steam rolling of Callum.

Note: Beter lives and trains in Canada, but I suspect the recent bottled water finding in America still hold true, ie every gallon of water tested positive for 350 nanograms of plastic particles. No test for Viagra or Sedatives was done, but those drugs are found in shellfish both in salt and fresh waters.

[Cableaddict]

Well that sure went as expected.,  though I thought Callum might do a little better before the inevitable end.

 

Beter's defense is still as crisp as ever.  Incredibly impressive.  And he seems to get better with every fight at herding his opponent,  yet doing it more by backing up than by forward - sideways movement.   What a performance.  

 

I wonder if Bivol will try to stall?

[Cableaddict]

Come to think on it,   In my memory, Beter in his prime was a come-forward stalker ala Golovkin, not a counterpuncher. I suspect this has been developed over time specifically to overcome the reach advantage of guys like Yarde and Smith: Force them to follow you and come forward, but at the angle you want, messing with their timing and balance. 

This would of course also work well against Bivol.

[LondonRingRules]

On 1/14/2024 at 9:36 PM, Cableaddict said:

Come to think on it,   In my memory, Beter in his prime was a come-forward stalker ala Golovkin, not a counterpuncher. I suspect this has been developed over time specifically to overcome the reach advantage of guys like Yarde and Smith: Force them to follow you and come forward, but at the angle you want, messing with their timing and balance. 

This would of course also work well against Bivol.

- - Canelo used that vs Golovkin 1 for a disputed draw result. 2nd fight Canelo took ring center to knock Golovkin backwards anytime he entered, and yet the fans still screamed. So Canelo gives him a 3rd shot to reduce him to a punching bag, and still the fans screamed.

Difference between Canelo and Beter is Beter bigger, stronger, and harder punching, so Bivol won't have anything but boxing as a possible advantage. 

We shall see soon enough...