Callum Smith weighed in at 179.8 for his eight-round setup fight against Colombian veteran Carlos Galvan at Friday’s weigh-in for their undercard fight this Saturday, November 30, at the Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, England.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Weigh Face-Down: Smith towers over Galvan
During the look down, the 6’3″ Smith towered over the 5’10” Galvan, who looked uncomfortable to stare at. Former WBA 168-lb champion Smith had a blank, fishy look in his eyes as he stared down the 33-year-old Galvan.
Galvan can punch a bit, but his recent losses to 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 light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev on Jan. 13, and he needs a confidence booster. He is not happy about being out of the ring for 11 months, and he promises not to be so inactive again. We will see.
Galvan First, Then Buatsi
‘Mundo’ Smith says he wants to fight Joshua Buatsi for his WBO interim light heavyweight title, which could put him in position to challenge the Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 winner to fight for the undisputed championship.
Interestingly, former WBA super middleweight champion Smith (29-2, 21 KOs), who is easily the most famous fighter on the card in terms of worldwide recognition, is buried on the undercard, fighting a guy with 14 losses, Galvan. (20-14-2, 19 KOs) in an eight-rounder. It just goes to show how quickly a fighter’s career can go downhill.
Smith vs. Galvan fights at the Sunny Edwards vs. Galal Yafai flyweight chart. These two are fighting for the vacant WBC interim flyweight title, and neither guy is considered a major talent. Sunny (21-1, 4 KOs) could 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,” Callum Smith said Boxing News on what he hopes to accomplish in his fight this Saturday night against Carlos Galvan.
“I want to give 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. That struggle makes sense. He is the WBO interim world champion. That fight puts me closer to where I want to be. I want to be a world champion,” Callum said of his interim fight with Joshua Buatsi.
“I want to be a world champion. I’m willing to fight anyone as long as it gets me closer to where I want to be. It is a world champion of two weights. Beating Joshua Buatsi puts me closer to a win than anyone else,” Smith said.
Can Smith regain World Champion status?
Given Smith’s age and dire career prospects, he should take a chance by fighting Buatsi. Given Smith’s difficulty staying active and his failures when fighting big names, he needs 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 featured in his recent fight against Willy Hutchinson on September 21st. Although Buatsi still won the fight with a 12-round split decision, he looked vulnerable under sustained attacks.
“Yes, that makes sense to me. Once I get this fight (Galvan) out of the way, we can sit down and see if that fight (Buatsi) can be made possible. I’m here for that. I’m not sure on his side. 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 rather than being inactive for the whole year,” said Smith.
