Callum Smith was 179.8 in his eight-round bout against Colombian veteran Carlos Galvan at Friday’s weigh-in for their undercard fight this Saturday, November 30, at the Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, England.
Head-to-head tally: Smith towering over Galvan
During the showdown, the 6’3″ Smith towered over the 5’10” Galvan, who looked uncomfortable being watched. The former 168-pound WBA champion Smith had a blank, fishy look in his eyes as he stared down the 33-year-old Galvan .
Galvan can punch a bit, but his recent losses against shorter fighters suggest he won’t last more than two rounds against Callum Smith.
Smith, 34, is coming off a seventh-round knockout loss to unified welterweight champion Artur Beterbiev on Jan. 13 and needs a boost of confidence. He is not happy about being out of the ring for 11 months, and promises to not be inactive again. we will see.
First Galvan, then Buatsi
‘Mundo’ Smith says he wants to fight Joshua Buatsi for his interim WBO light heavyweight title, which could put him in position to take on Beterbiev vs Dmitri Bivol 2 for the undisputed championship.
Interestingly, former WBA super middleweight champion Smith (29-2, 21 KOs), who is easily the most famous fighter on the card in terms of world recognition, is buried on the undercard, fighting a guy with 14 losses, Galvan (20-14- 2, 19 KO) in eight. It just goes to show how quickly a fighter’s career can fall.
Smith vs. Galvan fight on the Sunny Edwards vs. Galal Yafai card. The two are fighting for the vacant WBC Interim Flyweight Title, and neither guy is considered a major talent. Sunni (21-1, 4 KOs) could soon be in the same boat as Callum Smith if he is beaten by Jafai.
“I’m back to my winning ways and hopefully I can put in a good performance,” Callum Smith said Boxing News on what he hopes to accomplish in his fight this Saturday night against Carlos Galvan.
“I want to give another chance to become world champion again.” I want to get back to being active again. I was always at my best when I was active in my career. That fight makes sense. He is the WBO Interim World Champion. That struggle brings me closer to where I want to be. I want to be world champion,” Callum said of his transition match against Joshua Boissy.
“I want to be world champion. I’m willing to fight anyone as long as it gets me closer to where I want to be. It is a world champion in two categories. Beating Joshua Boissy puts me closer to beating anybody else,” Smith said.
Can Smith regain his World Champion status?
Given Smith’s age and dire career prospects, he has to take a risk by taking on Buatsi. Given Smith’s problems staying active and his failures against big names, he has to take a risk. If Smith can hit Buatsi, he might be able to hurt him enough to finish the job.
Buatsi was played in his most recent fight against Willie Hutchinson on September 21st. Although Buatsi still won the fight by split decision over 12 rounds, he looked vulnerable under constant attacks.
“Yeah, it makes sense to me. Once I get this (Galvan) fight out of the way, we can sit down and see if that (Buatsi) fight can happen. That’s what I’m here for. I’m not sure about his side. “I’m the best option for him, or he has other options,” Smith said.
“That’s the whole point of this fight: I can go into the New Year and target Buatsi and all the other top names in the division instead of being inactive all year,” Smith said.
