Callum Smith will face fellow Colombian Carlos Galvan (20-14-2, 19 KOs) in an eight-round light heavyweight contest this Saturday, November 30, at the Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, England.
Colombian Galvan has some pop in his punch, and as we’ve seen, Smith’s kryptonite is power punchers that apply pressure.
Galvan faced tough opposition
One cannot rule out an upset in this fight as Galvan can punch, and Smith’s chin was compromised in his last fight against Artur Beterbiev. Galvan has a lot of experience after fighting these fighters:
– Serhii Bohachuk
– Bakhram Murtazaliev
– Willie Monroe
– Janibek Alimkhanuly
– Caleb Plant
– Wanderer Alexis Angulo
– Immanuel Aleem
– Javontae Starks
Interestingly, Galvan has fought better fighters overall than Callum Smith, and if you remove those fighters, his resume would look much better. Most of those fighters would beat Callum.
The 34-year-old former WBA super middleweight champion Smith (29-2, 21 KOs) will fight Galal Yafai on the undercard of Sunny Edwards. The event will be shown live on DAZN.
Galvan, 33, is not the type of opponent fans were hoping to see Callum fight. Still, given his inactivity and his seventh-round knockout loss to unified 175-b champion Artur Beterbiev on Jan. 13, it’s understandable why he went in this direction.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn is optimistic about Smith’s future and talks about matching him against one of these fighters in 2025:
– Joshua Buatsi
– Anthony Yarde
– Lyndon Arthur
– Dmitry Bivol
If Hearn is serious about Callum fighting those guys in 2025, he could be sleeping in a tent on the pavement by the end of the year. Smith doesn’t beat any of those guys, not even the weakest link, Arthur.
Callum wants to stay at light heavyweight long enough to win a world title before moving up to cruiserweight. Given the money Smith could make fighting Beterbiev or Bivol in Saudi Arabia, it’s understandable why he should stay at 175 as long as possible.
The Saudis are not currently showing much interest in the cruiserweight division, apart from the fights involving IBF champion Jai Opetaia.
Smith’s once-promising career has hit a stall since his 12-round unanimous decision loss to Canelo Alvarez on December 19, 2020; in that fight, the 6’3″ Smith was considered the #1 fighter in the 168-lb division. But that loss took a lot of the air out of Smith’s career, and his only two wins since then have come against these fighters: Lenin Castillo and Mathieu Bauderlique.
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