Tonight, Liverpool’s Callum Smith seeks to write himself into British boxing folklore when he faces Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez in a career-defining fight at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Should WBA Super 168lbs champion Smith emerge victorious it will be be regarded as one of the greatest ever wins by a British fighter on foreign soil, with echoes of Lloyd Honeyghan’s shock triumph over pound-for-pound king Donald Curry in Atlantic City back in September 1986.
Smith is a 4-1 outsider with the bookies, but the champion has significant natural size advantages over four-weight king Canelo and is widely regarded as the best 168-pounder in the world. Can he make those advantages count against the great but physically smaller man? Boxing Social’s band of writers attempt to predict the outcome.
Smith to utilise his comedic height advantage which will see him well in the fight after six rounds. Canelo’s superb head and upper body movement to get beyond it followed up by body shots as the fight progresses. Close fight. Smith to be better than ever but Canelo‘s power punching to prove pivotal, taking him to a 116-112 unanimous decision. – Shaun Brown.
How good is Callum Smith? After eight years as a pro and 27 fights, I am still not sure. He is clearly a world class fighter, but is he good enough to be No.1 in the division and beat – arguably – the best fighter in the world? He may well be, but I am not convinced. That’s no slight against Smith, he’s done everything asked of him, but the level of opposition has been far from elite. The best fighter he has faced to date is George Groves. That night in Saudi Arabia, Smith looked sensational, but I feel Groves subsequent retirement was telling. Groves had a long, hard career and looked like a fighter with little left to give. Is the real Smith the one who walked through Groves or the fighter that struggled with Skoglund and Ryder? I suspect it is the latter. I think Smith lacks the variety in his offence to defeat Canelo. Smith may start well as the Mexican scouts him for a couple of rounds, but beyond the first quarter of the fight, I can see it becoming increasingly difficult for the Liverpudlian. When Smith makes it to the second half of the fight, admittedly that doesn’t happen too often, his performance level drops – he has only scored two stoppages after the sixth round. While his large frame for the weight gives him advantages early in the bout, it will cause him problems late. Canelo will be able to time his opponent and land hurtful counters. Smith is good on the inside, Canelo is great. I believe the Mexican will win between 9-12. – John A. MacDonald.
Can Callum Smith step off the Yellow Pages and dethrone the world’s number one pound-for-pound fighter? It’s a tough ask, and it requires certain things that Smith is yet to show us. Of course, he’s a solid, world-level fighter. But is he a star? Will British fight fans recall his performance as fondly as they do Lloyd Honeyghan’s, who dethroned Don Curry against all odds? The size difference may be startling, but it gives Canelo plenty to punch. A savage pursuant of body attacks already, he doesn’t need additional motivation. If Smith can figure out his range early, and maintain a high punch output, he can run the Mexican close. I just haven’t seen it from ‘Mundo’, and it’s an incredibly tough time to prove he’s capable. Canelo by UD. – Craig Scott.
For all his achievements, Canelo’s career has included a degree of risk assessment. He waited until Gennady Golovkin was past his power-punching peak before their controversial two-fight series and stopped a faded Sergey Kovalev when stepping up to win a world title in a fourth division. When an under-motivated Callum Smith struggled against an inspired John Ryder last October, it was enough to coax the Mexican star into this fight. That could prove an error in judgment. The Liverpool fighter raises his game against more fancied opposition and I believe we’ll see a different animal here. Smith can box and bang at a high level though he has never mixed in this company before so we don’t truly know his ceiling yet. He is huge for a 168-pounder and has ludicrous advantages in height and reach, but Smith won’t be able to box on the back foot to earn victory. Canelo’s star quality and ability to generate money means Smith will have to win emphatically to convince judges who are likely to award close or more technical rounds in the Mexican’s favour. Trainer Joe Gallagher has said Smith is going for the KO and we can read that as meaning an aggressive strategy is the only way to win in Texas. Canelo is a masterful body-puncher and has more to aim at here. He’ll seek to smother Smith early and grind him down with a brutal assault downstairs. I’m going against the grain and think Smith can build an early points lead and win a close one on the cards. But two judges need to agree and another controversial set of scorecards is always likely in a Canelo fight. The spirit of C.J. Ross and Adalaide Byrd lives on. – Mark Butcher.