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Artur Beterbiev weighs in at light heavy limit, Callum Smith weighs 174.6 pounds

Photo by Ryan Songalia
Fighters Network
12
Jan

QUEBEC CITY — Artur Beterbiev came in at the 175-pound limit for the eighth defense of his light heavyweight titles, while challenger Callum Smith came in just under the limit at 174.6 pounds.

The fight, which will be contested for the WBC, IBF and WBA belts held by Beterbiev (19-0, 19 knockouts), will take place at Centre Videotron, Quebec City, Canada, and will be broadcast live in the United States on ESPN and ESPN+, with the main broadcast beginning at 10 p.m. ET.

Beterbiev, 38, is a native of Khasavyurt, Russia but lives and trains three hours away in Montreal. The fight will be his first in almost a year, when he stopped Anthony Yarde in eight rounds.

The Beterbiev-Smith fight was originally scheduled for August 19, but was postponed after Beterbiev underwent surgery for a bone infection in his jaw.

Smith (29-1, 21 knockouts)is looking to become a world champion in a second weight class after holding the WBA super middleweight belt from 2018 until suffering his lone defeat in 2020, a unanimous decision loss to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Since then he has two straight against lesser opposition.

Smith of Liverpool, United Kingdom is also coming off significant inactivity, having last fought in August of 2022 when he knocked out Mathieu Bauderlique.

The co-main event will feature a super middleweight showdown between Christian Mbili (25-0, 21 KOs) of Pornic, France and Rohan Murdock (27-2, 19 KOs), 31, of Nerang, Australia. Mbili weighed 167.3 pounds while Murdock weighed 167.6 pounds.

The undercard, which will begin streaming on ESPN+ at 5:30 p.m. ET, will be headlined by WBO bantamweight titleholder Jason Moloney (26-2, 19 KOs) making his first defense of his belt against Saul Sanchez (20-2, 12 KOs). Sanchez, 26, of Pacoima, Calif. weighed in at 117.8 pounds, while Moloney, 33, of New South Wales, Australia weighed 117.5 pounds.

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