British fighter Callum Smith (29-1, 21KOs) says he can "get rid of" the knockout artist Artur Beterbiev during their January 13 bout in Quebec City, Canada.
"I’m going over there with the full belief that if I catch him, I hurt him, and if I hurt him, I believe I can get rid of him," the former super middleweight world champ Smith told Boxing Social.
The 33-year-old, a former World Boxing Super Series champion having beaten George Groves in the final, lost his belts three years ago to Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez. Since then, he has beaten Lenin Castillo and Mathieu Bauderlique in back-to-back fights.
Smith was scheduled to box Beterbiev earlier this year but a jaw injury to the unified champ at 175-pounds caused the contest to get postponed into the new year.
Beterbiev won his first championship in 2018 when he finished Enrico Kolling, and has since added the WBC, and WBO belts during a run of knockout wins that includes Callum Johnson, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Marcus Browne, Joe Smith Jr., and Anthony Yarde.
Regardless, Smith does not seem concerned at his opponent's finishing ability, nor his own inactivity.
"It’s an exciting fight," said Smith.
"It’s exactly what I’m in boxing for, to win world titles. I get to win three if I win this fight. It’s a huge fight for me, but it’s a fight I’ve always liked," he said.
"I’ve known of Artur Beterbiev for a long time. I know his style, and I feel it matches up pretty well with mine. I think from a neutral view it’s a pretty exciting fight, but I’m fully confident of going out there, coming out on top and taking his belts off him."
Smith continued: "People make out he’s this beast. Part of him is 19 fights with 19 knockouts. He’s got a great record, and his achievements speak for themselves, but he has been hurt twice, and he does get hit quite a bit.
"He’s not an elusive, hard to hit fighter. I do see ways in which I believe I can win. If somebody’s there for me to hit, I definitely think I can hurt them, and when I’ve seen other fighters hurt them, I definitely believe I can do the same."
