It is said that a man always finds a shoe to his foot. That one day, it will be his turn. He will find his man well.
But… Do you know anyone on the planet who could defeat Artur Beterbiev right now?
No
Artur Beterbiev
Artur Beterbiev: Canadian-Russian boxer
Me neither.
Take a look at the best light heavyweights in the world. And you will find that only age will eventually overcome them. Like everyone else, our three-time champion is getting older. He will be 38 years old on January 21. But don’t tell Joe Smith Jr. that Beterbiev is getting older. He will never believe you. And he still bears the marks of his last confrontation with the one to whom he ceded his title of the monarch. The speed of execution was exemplary.
Smith is currently under consideration. Will he continue to box, or will he rush to his shovel and rake? Join his father and continue pruning trees in the New York area?
Smith is a nice gentleman. A guy from the “gang,” as they say in Quebec. He is not the best boxer on earth, but he is a strong man who learned his craft as a boxer.
But every time he faced a boxer of high society, he dropped the flag. This was the case against Sullivan Barrera, Dmitrii Bivol, and Beterbiev.
In short, his great feat of arms is to have ended the career of Bernard Hopkins in 2016.
Some would say that his victory was by technical knockout in the first round. He won the fight against Andrzej Fonfara.
In 2016, he won the WBC International light heavyweight title. It was one of the important points of his career.
Perhaps they are right. After all, Smith was largely overlooked by bettors before confronting him.
Who can today aspire to defeat Beterbiev?
The first name on the list: is Bivol, the other champion of the WBA.
There is also the Mexican darling Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. He has already said he would like to compete against Beterbiev, but I doubt it.
The name of Mexican Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) often comes up on the mat.
He certainly has a natural talent. Maybe he could make our champion look bad. He is 6’2”, but his defense is porous, and eventually, he would be caught by a solid shot from Beterbiev, and voila.
Bivol has been sailing on a cloud since his victory over Alvarez. He wants to face Beterbiev, and our champion would like to accommodate him.
But his promoter Bob Arum would rather take him to London, England. There he could fight Anthony Yarde in front of more than 90,000 people.
The idea is not bad, but I doubt that Yarde will do better than Smith or the other victims of our three-time champion.
Yarde is good. Spread the word. In fact, according to BoxRec, Britain has 7 of the 25 best light heavyweights in the world. That’s 5 more than the Americans.
Moreover, the two best Americans, Smith and Marcus Browne, have already been victims of Beterbiev. The third, Richard Rivera (21-0, 16 KOs), has never beaten anyone.
If you’re wondering why the English have so many aspirants? You say that only the Americans will present more boxing galas on Saturday than the British on their territory.
According to BoxRec, eight galas will be presented on Saturday at uncle Sam’s home, while Britain will hold six.
It’s the number of young boxers that counts. The more there are, the more likely you are to find a rare pearl.
The secret is there. But who could defeat Beterbiev among the top seven Britons?
The best Britons in the division (According to BoxRec)
4th – Callum Smith (28-1, 20 KOs) From Liverpool. He lost his only career fight by decision to Alvarez.
9th – Joshua Buatsi (16-0, 13 KOs) From London. It is large 6’2”. He is undefeated and just defeated Craig Richard by decision last May. A possibility.
10th – Anthony Yarde (22-2, 21 KOs) The next elected official.
15th – Craig Richards (17-3-1, 10 KOs) From London. He suffered three defeats, including decisions against Buatsi and Bivol.
17th – Rocky Fielding (30-2, 18 KOs) From Liverpool. He has already dropped the flag in front of Alvarez and Smith.
19th – Lyndon Arthur. (19-1, 13 KOs) From Manchester. Last December, he lost by knockout in the 4th round to Yarde. This is his only defeat.
24th – Dan Azeez (16-0, 11 KOs) From London. He is undefeated, but he has never faced boxers of very high quality.
32nd – Callum Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs) From Lincolnshire. Beterbiev has already beaten him by knockout in the 4th round in Chicago in 2018.
