Callum Smith may well have his own job to do this weekend – but he has waded in on the main event debate.
The Liverpudlian returns to the scene of his greatest night on Saturday, facing Mathieu Bauderlique in a final eliminator for Artur Beterbiev’s WBC world light-heavyweight title.
But Smith, who made his debut in the 175-pound division on the same card as the first fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua in London 11 months ago, has now had his say on the big attraction ahead of the rematch at the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
The aforementioned Joshua was dethroned by former undisputed cruiserweight king Usyk unanimously at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium atop a card on which ‘Mundo’ scored a chilling second-round knockout over Lenin Castillo.
And as the pair prepare to do battle again – this time in the desert, at the same venue where Smith won the World Boxing Super Series tournament and beat George Groves to become the WBA Super world super-middleweight champion back in September 2018 – the former British and European titlist at 168lbs has made a case for ‘AJ’ reclaiming his belts.
When speaking to Boxing Social, Smith said:
“The fight is a very good one, it’s interesting.
I think we’re going to see a very different Joshua this time, but I think that will also bring out a different version of Usyk.”
Streaming giant DAZN, to whom Joshua committed his broadcasting future back in June in a groundbreaking deal, will show the fight in the US, as well as more than 190 territories, including Canada, Spain, Germany, Italy, Japan and Poland, while Sky Sports Box Office will broadcast the fight in the UK & Ireland after paying a staggering £23million to do so.
“They’re both top fighters who can adapt and I think we’ll see who can adapt the most and who gets the game plan off the best.”