Former super middleweight champion and current light heavyweight contender Callum Smith is looking towards the future as he looks to become world champion in a second weight class.
Smith takes on Frenchman Mathieu Bauderlique in a WBC eliminator on Saturday that sees the winner potentially move on and face current title holder Artur Beterbiev in the future.
The bout takes place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the undercard of Usyk-Joshua II, available live on Sky Sports Box Office.
In December 2020, Smith lost his WBA super middleweight title by unanimous decision to Canelo Alvarez. He believes that he has learnt a lot from that fight and has made the necessary changes to become world champion once again.
“Losing kind of highlights areas, you feel you need to improve on yourself. When you’re winning, it’s so easy to brush them away and you’re in a good place because you’re winning and you’re world champion.”
“The loss kind of highlighted certain areas and I made changes to my team and moved over to LA for most of my camp. I certainly believe I’m a better fighter than when I was world champion, and I’m confident I can be another one.”
Trainer Buddy McGirt also believes that Smith can win world titles at light heavyweight.
The pair first began working last year, after Smith left long-time coach Joe Gallagher, and the bout with Bauderlique will be their second assignment together.
McGirt, a former world champion himself, believes ‘Mundo’ can reach the top again.
“He can punch, but there is more to him than punch power. He has to gain confidence in his other skills. I know that he will be a champion again.”
Whether or not Smith becomes champion once again hinges on him defeating Bauderlique, a bronze medallist at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
His performance against the Frenchman may provide boxing fans with some idea of how he would fare against Beterbiev.