Twenty have tried, and 20 have been stopped as unified light heavyweight king Artur Beterbiev moved up the boxing ladder.
Beterbiev defended his WBC/IBF/WBO world titles with a seventh-round TKO win against former world champion Callum Smith (29-2, 16 KOs) Saturday evening at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.
The pound-for-pound star remains boxing’s only world champion with a 100 percent knockout ratio by handing Smith his first knockdown and stoppage loss.
Beterbiev dominated Smith
The 38-year-old wrecking ball, who calls Montreal home, looked to quickly remove the ring rust following a one-year layoff by chasing down Smith in the opening seconds. With significant reach and height advantages, Smith tried to land from the outside.
In rounds three and four, Beterbiev began mauling Smith by landing vicious punches around his guard. He boxed from the outside in round five but resumed his forward momentum in the sixth, forcing an increasingly bruised Smith against the ropes to land chopping right hands.
In the seventh, Beterbiev countered a Smith jab with a looping right hand that wobbled him, eventually dropping him with a relentless fusillade of punches. Smith got back to his feet, but he was knocked down again. This prompted head trainer Buddy McGirt to stop the fight at the 2:00 mark of round seven.
Beterbiev said, “It’s because of luck. It’s my coach. My team works hard with me, too. Maybe that’s why, too. But I think it’s because of luck.
“We had a couple of strategies. But we always have more than one. We need to be prepared for several strategies. He gave me a good fight. He stayed strong. Thanks to him. Today, luck is on my side.
“Yes, of course {I want the Bivol fight}. I need another belt. It would mean a lot to me.”
Beterbiev vs Smith undercard results
Christian Mbilli defended his regional titles with a sixth-round TKO against Australian contender Rohan Murdock.
Jason Moloney retained his WBO bantamweight world title with a majority decision over Saul Sanchez.
One judge scored it 114-114, overruled by two scores of 116-112.
Light Heavyweight Imam Khataev (6-0, 6 KOs) scored a TKO 2 over Michal Ludwiczak (17-13-1, 9 KOs), 2:17.
At super featherweight, Leila Beaudoin (11-1, 1 KO)won over eight rounds against Elizabeth Espinoza (4-6-3, 1 KO). Scores read 78-74 2x and 77-75.
In addition, super middleweight Wilkens Mathieu moved to 6-0, 3 KOs, with a UD 4 over Jose Arias Alvarez (3-2, 1 KO); scores were 40-36 and 40-35 2x.
Mehmet Ünal (8-0, 7 KOs) battered Dragan Lepei in less than a minute at light heavyweight.
Welterweight Christopher Guerrero (10-0, 5 KOs) scored a UD 8.
Finally, middleweight Moreno Fendero (3-0, 2 KOs) won TKO 1 over Victor Hugo Flores (7-4, 3 KOs).
