Beterbiev dominates Smith, appears forward to possible Bivol bout

QUEBEC CITY, Quebec — Artur Beterbiev retained his WBC, WBO and IBF gentle heavyweight titles with a seventh-round TKO victory over Callum Smith on Saturday evening.

Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) buckled Smith with a chopping proper hand earlier than an avalanche of punches dropped the challenger. Moments later, Smith was on the canvas once more following one other flurry of energy photographs.

Smith (29-2, 21 KOs) survived the second knockdown, too, however he was in no form to proceed when coach Buddy McGirt jumped on the ring apron to halt the bout.

With the victory — Beterbiev’s seventh 175-pound championship protection — he stays boxing’s solely champion with a 100% knockout ratio.

Beterbiev was forward 58-56, 58-56 and 59-55 when the battle was stopped with one minute left in Spherical 7.

“We had a pair methods; we all the time have multiple,” mentioned Beterbiev, who’s ESPN’s No. 7-ranked pound-for-pound boxer and No. 2 gentle heavyweight. “… He gave me a superb battle. He stayed robust. Because of him. Right this moment, luck is on my aspect.”

Beterbiev, who fights out of Montreal, swarmed Smith proper off his stool and backed him right into a nook with a flurry of photographs, a harbinger of what was in retailer for the Englishman.

The 38-year-old busted up Smith along with his glorious jab, inflicting his nostril to bleed early. Beterbiev’s neatly utilized stress by no means let Smith breathe for even a second.

Beterbiev was suffocating as he modified ranges along with his jab and adopted up with compact photographs that largely met their mark. Smith, 33, tried to punch in between Beterbiev’s assault, however his energy connects by no means had any impact.

Beterbiev, in the meantime, started to interrupt down Smith similar to he had all 19 earlier opponents.

With the victory, Beterbiev stays on a collision course for a extremely anticipated showdown with fellow Russian Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed gentle heavyweight championship.

Bivol, who holds the WBA title at 175 kilos, mentioned final month that he has already agreed to his aspect of a deal for a gathering with Beterbiev in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) owns a win over Canelo Alvarez and is ESPN’s No. 1 gentle heavyweight and No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer.

“Sure, after all [I want the Bivol fight],” Beterbiev mentioned. “I would like one other belt. It could imply lots to me.”

Added Beterbiev’s promoter, High Rank chairman Bob Arum: “It isn’t completed but, however completely we need to do it. I will be speaking to my good friend His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. I do know he desires to do it, however Ramadan is coming. So, about three months after the tip of Ramadan we’ll be able to battle Dmitry Bivol, in all probability in Riyadh.”

Beterbiev is a religious Muslim. Ramadan begins March 10 and ends April 8.

Saturday’s matchup was Beterbiev’s first bout since final January, when he scored one other seventh-round TKO win, this time over England’s Anthony Yarde. Beterbiev-Smith was set for this previous August, however the champion withdrew with a jaw an infection.

Smith, in his lone earlier bout on the elite stage, was dominated by Alvarez over 12 rounds in an excellent middleweight title protection. He moved as much as 175 kilos afterward — the place he is rated No. 3 by ESPN — however competed simply six rounds since that December 2022 loss to Canelo.

Mbilli breaks down Murdock

Christian Mbilli remained undefeated with a pulverizing sixth-round stoppage win over Rohan Murdock within the ESPN chief-support bout.

Mbilli (26-0, 22 KOs) landed an amazing quantity of flush energy photographs all through the battle. A Cameroon native who fights out of Montreal, Mbilli lifted the group to its toes along with his thrilling energy show.

The 28-year-old, who’s ESPN’s No. 7-ranked tremendous middleweight, handed out a two-fisted beating earlier than the battle was lastly stopped following Spherical 6.

Australia’s Murdock (27-3, 19 KOs) confirmed super mettle in absorbing the punishment.

Moloney ekes by Sanchez in slugfest

Jason Moloney retained his WBO bantamweight title with a majority-decision victory over Saul Sanchez in a thriller: 114-114, 116-112 and 116-112.

Australia’s Moloney (27-2, 19 KOs) swept the championship rounds on two scorecards to tug out the win within the first protection of his 118-pound belt. Spherical after spherical, he and Sanchez traded heavy blows in a firefight that prompted a standing ovation on the ultimate bell.

Moloney, 33, is ESPN’s No. 2-ranked bantamweight. He has received six consecutive fights since a seventh-round KO loss to Naoya Inoue in an October 2020 title bout.

Sanchez (20-3, 12 KOs), a 26-year-old from Southern California, was difficult for his first world title.