Beterbiev Batters Smith to Earn a Knockout Victory!

Artur Beterbiev has cemented himself as the top light-heavyweight in the world yet again. Once again, the predictions made on DQ w/ Damani have been correct. Beterbiev is a once-in-a-generation talent, and his impressive streak of knockouts, continuing with the one added to the list on Saturday, directly proves this. Many people have denied Beterbiev his due praise, oftentimes calling his opposition lackluster. This is also a baseless argument. With this cold knockout finish of Callum Smith, Beterbiev has entered the pound-for-pound rankings. Before discussing the fight, take just a moment to process exactly why Beterbiev has earned his spot.

Anthony Yarde was the next big thing at light heavyweight for many years, with his only loss being to Sergiy Kovalev, a seasoned light-heavyweight world champion. Yarde was leading the fight until he lost by shocking knockout loss. He built an impressive win streak after this, winning regional titles until he could no longer be ignored by Beterbiev. Yarde clipped Beterbiev on several occasions throughout their title fight, but he was unable to put Beterbiev down. Instead, he found himself on the opposite side of the winning column, giving him the second knockout loss of his career.

Similar to Yarde, Callum Smith was all game. He gave Beterbiev serious competition during their world title contest, but it wasn't enough to keep the Russian beast off of him. The early rounds saw Smith using his height and reach to keep Beterbiev on the outside, and he was somewhat successful in doing so.

However, Beterbiev was able to kick his offensive efforts into second and third gear. Little by little, Smith was overwhelmed similar to how Canelo Alvarez was able to overwhelm him. Beterbiev pressured Smith against the ropes, leaving him no answers but his head movement. Even taking his head off the center line was difficult to do, because Beterbiev changed the angle of his shots. He used short punches to catch Smith, split his guard, and blast him over the top of his head. There were no answers for the incessant pressure being exhumed by Beterbiev, and this cannot be blamed on Smith's coaches.

The team did an excellent job with Smith and their game plan was solid. A short analysis of Smith’s training footage and sparring shows that he and his team wanted to force Beterbiev to hide behind his high guard. It is a known fact that Beterbiev prefers to shell up behind the high guard over moving his head, which can provide major opportunities to strike the body and around the gloves. Smith did have the chance to batter Beterbiev's high guard, but it wasn't enough to get him to respect his power and back up. Instead, Beterbiev marched forward and applied aggressive force that many have fallen victim to. Smith showed great resilience, taking many of Beterbiev's best punches without allowing himself to go down. The greatest show of strength came from Smith, who threw punches back at Beterbiev through the hurricane of concussive blows coming his way. It was incredible to see Smith show such perseverance in the face of almost certain defeat.

Throughout his entire career, Callum Smith had never been knocked down. This all changed in the seventh round when he threw a jab that was countered with perfect timing. Beterbiev had spent the earlier rounds calculating when Smith would throw the jab, he recognized that his strategy was relying heavily on straight shots. In response to Smith's jab, Beterbiev crushed Smith with a right hook over the top that sent him off balance. In an attempt to regain his footing, Smith stumbled back into the ropes with his guard high. Beterbiev split the guard with a straight right, which caused Smith to roll off of the ropes of the eastern portion of the ring, into the ropes northern end of the ring.

Beterbiev responded with another straight right through the guard, which sent Smith crashing to the floor for the first time in his long and illustrious career. It was at this moment that the crowd and commentators noticed the damage to Smith's face. With a swollen left eye and several forehead abrasions, there was no doubt that Smith was on his last ounce of energy in the ring. Smith took the eight-count and rose to his feet, but he couldn't stop Beterbiev's onslaught. As he exited the corner, Beterbiev threw a solid jab-cross combination that split his guard once again, hurting him badly.

As Smith reversed into the ropes, Beterbiev shot a right hook that reached around the gloves. Smith tried his best to stay on his feet, but after another combination of straight punches, he found himself on the ground yet again. Smith had collapsed in a matter of seconds, and the disappointment on his face could not be ignored. Smith crouched with his gloves touching the floor in a pose similar to Israel Adesanya, acknowledging the referee's count.

As Smith rose to his feet once again, former welterweight world champion and Smith's head coach, Buddy McGirt, entered the ring to wave and alert the referee that he wanted the fight stopped. In round seven, Artur Beterbiev defeated Callum Smith by knockout to retain his WBC, WBO, and IBF Light-Heavyweight World Championships.

On the undercard were two spectacular fights that deserve praise for the cardio, heart, and chin displayed in both. Firstly, the defending WBO Bantamweight World Champion Jason Moloney deserves three cheers. In a 12-round war and a tough night in the office, Jason Moloney took on a relatively unknown Mexican challenger in Saul Sanchez. It's fair to say that Moloney wouldn't have received credit for fighting Saul Sanchez if he lost because he isn't a household name, an issue that we covered in this week's episode of the podcast. Many casual fans disrespect the work champions and prospects put in against challengers who are not the biggest names in the division, and that is inherently hurtful to their stock, as well as hurtful to the sport.

Jason, alongside his twin brother Andrew, expressed gratitude to Saul Sanchez and his team for being willing to rise to the occasion. Plenty of people in the division would not have declined to fight, but Sanchez trained hard, and this was abundantly clear in their 12-round slugfest. The fight was ridiculously close, a true boxing nail-biter. There were no knockdowns on either side and because of this, the scoring was difficult to follow.

Sanchez started off strong by forcing Moloney to box off of the back foot. An educated ring technician with a high IQ, Moloney used his supreme head movement and the jab to keep himself off of the ropes and out of the corner. Sanchez had success with his offense in the early rounds, but Moloney's jab became the setup punch for his hooks to the body. This tired out Sanchez, who was visibly gassed out by the 9th round.

The men exchanged blows inside and outside, showcasing their abilities as in-fighters and pure boxers. In the end, it was Moloney who just barely edged the victory out by increasing his activity in the championship rounds. There were several moments where Moloney unleashed a barrage of jabs, crosses, and hooks to keep Sanchez back. The main issue was Sanchez closing the distance, so Moloney fought smart and didn't allow Sanchez any easy points.

It was at this point that Moloney fought at his best, using his experience in the ring against a younger and difficult-to-shake Sanchez. At the final bell, Moloney's hand was raised, and the world was certain that the right man won. Realistically, the fight could have gone either way and could have even been a draw. The scorecards read 114-114, 116-112, and 116-112, giving Moloney a slight edge. Moloney, the fans, and the commentators all welcomed a rematch. In the event that there is a rematch, there is major potential for more fireworks.

The second firefight of the evening came in the form of Christian Mbili. Rohan Murdock, a well-known Australian super-middleweight, did not come to Canada to allow an easy victory. He relied on his toughness against the destructive knockout power of Mbili. It didn't get him very far. Murdock reached the 6th round of the fight and was finished on the stool. His entire team stood along the apron of the ring with a look of concern, while his head coach told him, “You aren't going to win this fight," he began. "You can live to fight another day, son.” His head coach was very close to stopping the fight in rounds four and five, mostly because he was taking too much damage. Mbili used the first two rounds to measure distance and judge whether or not he needed to respect Murdock's power.

Fortunately for Mbili, he was able to handle most of what Murdock was throwing at him. This meant more forward pressure from Mbili, who took advantage of every opportunity to strike possible. He forced Murdock to back up consistently, and skillfully delivered hooks to the body before he unleashed steady uppercuts and barrages to the head. Murdock took more damage to the body his hands dropped further until eventually, his guard was nonexistent.

Murdock used mind games in an attempt to slow Mbili's pace, but this only caused Mbili to increase his punch output. In round two, Mbili hurt Murdock badly with a double left hook and a double rear-hand uppercut, sending him stumbling back. At the end of the round, Mbili blasted Murdock with two right hooks, and he was saved by the bell. In the third, fourth, and finally, the fifth round, Mbili opened Murdock up further against the ropes by using footwork to create angles. It was astonishing to see Mbili shift his weight to the left and right to drop several overhands behind the ear of Murdock, many fighters would choose to stand in front of their opposition.

This skill proves that Mbili is well beyond the rest of the division in terms of offensive awareness. Mbili continued to send Murdock's head flying backward, cranking to the left and right, causing significant swelling in his left eye. Despite Mbili's explosive power and near-infinite gas tank, Murdock kept swinging back in what many longtime boxing fans have dubbed "a chin from the 80s." Each time Mbili connected with a shot that almost knocked him out, he returned with a shot to the body. It seemed as if Murdock was fighting on pure instinct, there was nothing else guiding him but the remnants of his consciousness.

Murdock never gave up, and it is undeniable that he was too tough for his own good. As the bell rang and Murdock went back to his corner, the head coach of his team decided to call it a night. It was a wise decision, considering how badly he was being beaten. The commentators had seen enough, but the crowd continued to cheer Murdock on in typical Canadian fashion. One thing is for certain- boxing fans in Canada will support a fighter who continues to fight with everything their heart has to offer. Hopefully, Top Rank brings another major card to Canada, and fight fans around the world can once again enjoy great fighting.