Callum Smith Gives Honest Take on David Benavidez and Fight Talks

Callum Smith was last seen in action on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 where he defeated Joshua Buatsi in an entertaining back-and-forth contest. Smith outworked his opponent and thoroughly deserved the victory. Attention quickly turned to what’s next for the Liverpudlian, and “Mundo” recently spoke to Boxing Social, revealing the latest on a potential fight with David Benavidez as well as his honest opinion on the unbeaten WBC light heavyweight champion.

Callum Smith Next Fight: World Title Opportunity Remains a Possibility

Smith Gives Latest on Benavidez Negotiations

Speaking to Boxing Social, Smith spoke about what is most likely next for him following his win over Joshua Buatsi: “From what I’m hearing, the (David) Benavidez one is probably a little bit further along in terms of talks and negotiations even though that fight is nowhere near done, but there been an amount of talks what I hear from Eddie (Hearn) with PBC over getting the Benavidez fight done,” said Smith.

“I’m in a good position, regardless of who I fight next. It should be a good fight. The goal remains the same – I want to be a two-weight world champion, and i’ll do whatever I have to do to get there,” added Smith.

‘Mundo’ Gives Honest Take on Benavidez

Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) was then asked what he thinks of David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) as a fighter: “He’s a really good fighter. I knew of him a long time. We were both world champions at the same time down at 168 and I’ve always rated him as a fighter. I like his personality. I think he’s good for boxing and I think stylistically we make a pretty good fight together,” said Smith.

He added: “If I were to retire tomorrow, the one fight I feel probably should have happened but never was, would be the Benavidez one. We were at 168 together but we were both massive 168’s so both had the potential to move to 175 and we both have now so I think it’s a fight that will happen at some point, hopefully now it’s next, and he’s WBC champion so there’s a lot more at stake.”

Callum Smith, the WBO interim title holder has enjoyed a memorable career, but his performance against Buatsi showed there’s plenty of desire left. He’ll need every bit of that hunger and ring IQ to deal with the heavy-handed Benavidez, who inherited the full WBC title following the decision from Dmitry Bivol to vacate.