David Price believes Callum Smith is catching Artur Beterbiev at the perfect time in his career and sees him winning on Saturday.
The retired former heavyweight contender, Price, says Callum (29-1, 21 KOs) is catching the 38-year-old IBF/WBC/WBO light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) with him getting old.
Beterbiev is hittable, Price says, and he thinks that if Smith can land enough shots, he can come out victorious. The two will be headlining on ESPN this Saturday, January 13th, at the Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Canada.
Smith: Reborn in Light Heavyweight?
As far as we can tell, Smith looks improved since moving up to light heavyweight a couple of years ago. He had been fighting at 168, and he looked like death warmed over, making weight for those fights.
In hindsight, the 6’4″ Smith should have moved up to 175 after winning the tournament in 2018, and he would have saved himself the indignity of getting trounced by Canelo Alvarez. The money had to be good for Callum, so it wasn’t all bad losing.
Is the timing right?
“Beterbiev is a beast, and he’s battered everyone, but there are chinks in his armor, and if there’s anyone that can expose that, it’s Callum,” said David Price to Boxing News.
Beterbiev hasn’t fought in a year since his war with Anthony Yarde in January 2023, and we don’t know how that long layoff will affect his performance. Smith has been inactive since his last fight against some no-name guy.
Smith’s Size and Accuracy Advantage
“He’s an accurate puncher, and he’s a big, big man for the light heavyweight division,” Price continued with his praise of Smith. “Obviously, his performance against Canelo [wasn’t good]. I think they’re two different styles.”
With Beterbiev, it only takes one big punch from him to put Smith’s lights out, and he’ll be willing to take the shots from him to land his one big KO blast on Saturday. Smith is huge for the 175-lb division and could easily compete at cruiserweight. That would explain why he’s looked so pale and drained in appearance recently.
“Beterbiev is there to be hit with a clean shot. We saw that with the Anthony Yarde fight. The timing is perfect. Beterbiev was at the same Olympics as me. I think he’s the same age as me. I’m 39, and he can’t be far off me,” said Price.
“He’s got more miles on the clock, definitely. Callum wouldn’t have taken this fight unless he thought it was winnable,” said Price.
