Callum Smith weighed in at 179.8 for his eight-round tune-up fight against Colombian veteran Carlos Galvan at Friday’s weigh-in for his undercard fight this Saturday, November 30 at the Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, England.
(Credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing)
Face Weigh In: Smith Towers Over Galvan
During the face-off, the 6’3″ Smith towered over the 5’10” Galvan, who looked uncomfortable being watched. Former WBA 168lb champion Smith had a blank, fish-like look in his eyes when he looked at the 33-year-old Galvan.
Galvan can punch a bit, but his recent defeats against lesser fighters suggest he won’t last more than two rounds against Callum Smith.
Smith, 34, is coming off a seventh-round knockout loss to unified lightweight champion Artur Beterbiev on Jan. 13 and needs a confidence boost. He’s not happy about being out of the ring for 11 months, and he’s vowed not to be inactive like that again. We’ll see.
First Galvan, then Buatsi
“Mundo” Smith says he wants to fight Joshua Buatsi for his interim WBO light heavyweight title, which could put him in position to fight the winner of Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 for the undisputed championship.
Interestingly, former WBA super middleweight champion Smith (29-2, 21 KO), who is easily the best-known fighter on the card in terms of world recognition, is buried on the undercard, fighting a guy with 14 defeats , Galvan. (20-14-2, 19 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Just shows how quickly a fighter’s career can go downhill.
Smith vs. Galvan are fighters on the Sunny Edwards vs. Galal Yafai flyweight card. Those two are fighting for the vacant WBC interim flyweight title, and neither man is seen as a major talent. Sunny (21-1, 4 KOs) may soon be in the same boat as Callum Smith if he is beaten by Yafai.
“Getting back to my winning ways and hopefully getting a good performance,” said Callum Smith Boxing news about what he hopes to accomplish in his fight this Saturday night against Carlos Galvan.
“I want to give myself another chance to become world champion again. I want to be active again. I have always been at my best when I was active in my career. This fight makes sense. He is the WBO interim world champion. This fight puts me closer to where I want to be, I want to be a world champion,” said Callum on his interim in the Joshua Buatsi fight.
“I want to be a world champion. I’m willing to fight anyone as long as it puts me closer to where I want to be. He’s a two-weight world champion. Beating Joshua Buatsi puts me closer to a win over someone else,” he said Smith.
Can Smith Regain World Champion Status?
Given Smith’s age and bleak career outlook, he needs to take a chance on fighting Buatsi. Given Smith’s problems staying active and his failures in fighting big names, he’s going to take a risk. If Smith can land a big shot on Buatsi, he might be able to hurt him enough to finish the job.
Buatsi was on the scene in his recent fight against Willy Hutchinson on September 21. Although Buatsi still won the fight by a 12-round split decision, he looked vulnerable under sustained attacks.
“Yes, it makes sense to me. Once I get this fight (Galvan) out of the way, we can sit down and see if we can do the fight (Buatsi). I’m here for it. I don’t know sure on his part. I’m the best option for him, or he has other options,” Smith said.
“That’s the whole point of this fight: I can go into the new year and target the likes of Buatsi and all the other top names in the division instead of being inactive all year,” Smith said.
