The 38-year-old put in a typically dominant performance on Saturday.
Artur Beterbiev continued his dominant reign as light heavyweight champion
Callum Smith is likely to retire at 33, with the dignity of a former world champion.
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Callum the Younger asked plenty of questions before Artur Beterbiev effectively brought down the Iron Curtain on the Smith Brothers’ unique era of Liverpool boxing.
Unfortunately none of them took to the ring in freezing Quebec City on Saturday night.
No, the only reigning world champion to have won all of his fights by knockout is not losing his fearsome punching power as his 39th birthday approaches.
King Arthur responded to that with a seventh-round stoppage that was as brutal as it was beautiful to behold.
No, the tooth decay surgery that delayed this world light heavyweight title fight for a few weeks hasn’t crumbled Beterbiev’s concrete jaw.
Artur Beterbiev put in a brilliant performance to beat challenger Callum Smith (left) in Canada on Saturday.
Beterbiev, the 38-year-old current world light heavyweight champion, put in a typically dominant performance.
As his challenger discovered to his disappointment, on the rare occasions he managed to land a significant blow.
No, Smith does not possess the one-punch left hook counterpunch capable of destroying a major world champion that he and his promoter had been touting.
It is evident, since the Russian-Canadian owner of the WBC, IBF and WBO belts did not falter for a second in his unstoppable march towards a twentieth gladiatorial triumph.
No, Beterbiev’s monstrous powers as he approaches 40 are not the product of the banned substance abuse that his promoter’s spokesman, former world champion Tony Bellow, unfortunately continued to allude to when this massacre ended.
As the WBC made clear, atypical samples indicating a small increase in enzymes occur naturally. Even more so when all the tests before and after are negative. Furthermore, Beterbiev owes his longevity to a strict Muslim lifestyle and all those knockouts that have reduced the wear and tear on his body.
No, Beterbiev, he’s not just a devastating puncher.
There was non-stop evidence of his technical skills, blistering hand speed including a lightning strike, precision punches, ring intelligence, distance judgment and all-round ring prowess as he won each round by a mile.
Yes, the only question Smith answered after a braver performance than that of Mexican legend Canelo Álvarez, in which he suffered his only previous defeat.
Smith is now likely to retire at the age of 33 and with dignity as a former world super middleweight champion.
Beterbiev’s monstrous punching power was demonstrated when he defeated Smith in Quebec
He is likely to retire at 33, with the dignity of a former world super middleweight champion, saying: “I wanted to prove that I am the best of them all.” “It’s hard to accept that I’m not, but I always said I didn’t want to continue playing this tough game for too long.”
Honestly put, with older brothers Paul and Stephen already hanging up the gloves and Liam on edge after losing his rematch with Chris Eubank Jr, the Honorable Chapter Of Fighting Smiths is on the verge of disbanding.
Which leaves one question to answer. Who becomes undisputed light heavyweight champion when Beterbiev and fellow Russian WBC titleholder Dmitry Bivol make their fortunes in Saudi Arabia this summer?
All we know for sure now is that this is a fight the boxing world is waiting to see.