Russian boxing phenomenon Artur Beterbiev won his 20th consecutive knockout victory

Russian boxing phenomenon Artur Beterbiev won his 20th consecutive knockout victory. Beterbiev, who tried to take away the championship belts of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) in the light heavyweight (up to 79.4 kg) from him, destroyed the famous British Callum Smith in the seventh round, knocking him down twice . Now on his agenda is the main fight in his life – with compatriot Dmitry Bivol for the status of absolute world champion, which could take place in the summer.

Finding himself in front of a microphone in the center of the ring immediately after the fight in Quebec City, which took place a week before the boxer’s 39th birthday, Artur Beterbiev said that luck was on his side that evening. And it seems that I couldn’t find a more inappropriate word to describe the salt of what happened. That’s something, but traces of pure luck in this victory, after which Beterbiev’s unique professional track record consists of 20 early wins, were definitely impossible to detect, no matter how hard you tried. On the contrary, it looked like a classic, archetypal, or something like, victory of his, although the opponent’s reputation seemed to insist that something extraordinary would emerge from the Canadian fight, breaking the trend. But no, nothing like that.

In fact, those who have closely followed the incredible career of Artur Beterbiev have seen this picture a bunch of times. The Russian boxer is outwardly calm, and his boxing sometimes even smacks of monotony. But the opponent stands firm, often moves forward, sometimes there is a feeling that he has found something and is about to ask the champion unpleasant questions. But time passes, and questions are still not asked. And, in the end, it turns out that the newly cheerful opponent can barely stand on weak legs and understands little, ready, having missed dozens of heavy blows, to fall into the ring, like everyone who has ever crossed paths with Beterbiev before.

Callum Smith, a former world champion in super middleweight (up to 76.2 kg), a fighter with an excellent reputation, who suffered the only defeat in his professional biography from the incomparable Saul Alvarez and never lost early, perhaps looked bolder and tougher than his predecessors. But he stepped on the same rake as them. As expected, despite the slight height advantage that hinted that it would be a good idea to keep a distance,

Smith, following his favorite strategy, moved forward, perhaps thinking that everything was going well for him. The enemy didn’t particularly object; he allowed us to attack.

Statistics tell us how it worked out better than impressions from the outside, which, by the way, clearly spoke in favor of the champion. There is a difference in the shots thrown, but it is not gigantic: Artur Beterbiev, according to CompuBox, has 471, Callum Smith has 366. That is, in terms of formal activity, the Briton really did not fail. But here are the strikes that reached the goal: Smith had only 59, Beterbiev had as many as 182, of which 87, almost half, were accentuated (the challenger had three dozen of them).

Knowing the numbers, it’s pointless to be surprised by what happened in the seventh round. This is a normal story for all Artur Beterbiev’s fights – to slowly inflict damage, bringing the opponent to the point where he, just vigorous and biting, will be unable to react to the actions of the Russian and endure pain and shock.

And the denouement was, of course, spectacular. The right uppercut, with which Artur Beterbiev knocked down Callum Smith, is apparently doomed to end up in a video compilation of the best boxing episodes of the year.

Smith rose to his feet. But – only to once again fall under the crushing cannonade of the Russian boxer, who had calculated everything and felt that the fight needed to be completed right now. Smith got up after the second knockdown. However, his coach Buddy McGirt, naturally, seeing that his fighter could collapse even if he simply blew on him, demanded that the fight be stopped.

And soon it was no longer discussed, but a much more interesting and important match – between Artur Beterbiev and another outstanding Russian light heavyweight, who also had not yet misfired in his professional career – Dmitry Bivol, who holds the title of World Boxing Association (WBA) champion. The fact that the match for the status of absolute world champion would finally come together became clear at the end of last year, after Bivol defeated the Briton Lyndon Arthur. Now more specifics have been added. Bob Arum, a titan of the promotion business who has been working with Beterbiev for some time, said that he had already discussed it with people in power from Sadov’s Arabia, which has recently fallen in love with boxing, and had previously agreed that Riyadh would host this exceptionally intriguing fight. We still need to decide on a date. According to Arum, the preferred option is three months after the end of Ramadan, a sacred period for the Chechen Artur Beterbiev, which imposes serious restrictions and complicates the training process. In other words, it’s the middle of summer.

Alexey Dospehov