Artur Beterbiev, the IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion, has been added to Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound top ten list at #5 following his easy-as-pie seventh-round TKO demolition job on Callum Smith last Saturday night in Quebec City, Canada.
Beterbiev’s Devastating Display
Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) destroyed the former WBA super middleweight champion Smith (29-2, 21 KOs), dropping him twice in the seventh round before he was pulled out by his trainer, Buddy McGirt.
Smith looked like he’d been hit by a train when the fight was halted, as he’d taken a ton of heavy headshots from the hard-hitting Beterbiev. The victory for Beterbiev kept his KO percentage at a perfect 100%.
Ring Magazine’s Updated Pound-For-Pound List
1. Terence Crawford
2. Naoya Inoue
3. Oleksandr Usyk
4. Canelo Alvarez
5. Artur Beterbiev
6. Dmitry Bivol
7. Devin Haney
8. Errol Spence
9. Gervonta Davis
10. Teofimo Lopez
Climbing the Pound-for-Pound Ladder
What Beterbiev needs now to continue to climb the pound-for-pound ladder are victories over WBA champion Dmitry Bivol later this year for the undisputed light heavyweight championship, then perhaps wins over David Benavidez or Canelo Alvarez if the two come up to 175.
The only thing that could stop Beterbiev from rising to the #1 spot in the Ring Magazine pound-for-pound is the lack of competition at light heavyweight. Defeating Bivol probably won’t be enough for Beterbiev to grab the top spot. He’ll need fighters like Benavidez and Canelo to get there.
Turki Alalshikh wants the Beterbiev-Bivol winner to move up to cruiserweight to take on former IBF champion Jai Opetaia.
Beterbiev Avoided by Superstar
“There’s a reason why Canelo has not fought Artur [Beterbiev]. He went up to light heavyweight twice. He didn’t choose Artur. Make no mistake, there’s a reason for that. That’s not like an accident,” said trainer John Scully to Fighthype, talking about how Canelo Alvarez chose to face Dmitry Bivol and Sergey Kovalev but NOT Artur Beterbiev in the two times he fought at 175.
“By design, they [Team Canelo] avoided him [Beterbiev], and I don’t blame them, because Artur is twice the size of him. The thing is, Bivol had Canelo on the ropes, and he wouldn’t try to get him out of there. With Artur, that’s a whole different program.
“Artur and Canelo is a different ball game. Artur is way too big, way too strong, and he’s going to get him on the ropes and slaughter him. Canelo moved up twice, and who didn’t he fight?” said Scully.
