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The WBC has ordered an interesting light heavyweight title fight. Council’s current division t king, 19-0 Artur Beterbiev, has been instructed to make a deal with former 29-1 world titlist Callum Smith by April 11, lest the fight go over. Beterbiev is a wrecking machine, but Smith is no joke. In fact, the only loss the English suffered was at the gloved hand of Canelo Alvarez in 2020. Smith was a middleweight champion at the time. Since his one loss, however, Smith has moved up to light heavyweight and is now ready for a shot at Beterbiev.
It’s hard to imagine Smith finishing among the betting favorites here (should the match be made). Beterbiev stopped all his opponents at a distance. Many fans want to see IBF, WBC and WBO titlist Beterbiev go head-to-head with WBA titlist – and Canelo Alvarez conqueror – Dmitry Bivol. That potential fight, however, has yet to materialize. With Beterbiev now ordered to face Smith, a potential match with Bivol will likely be pushed at some point further down the road. Beterbiev will want to face Bivol for the undisputed heavyweight championship, after all, and he won’t be able to if the WBC strip him of the belt for refusing to face Smith.
