Tonight at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, two of the best pound for pound boxers in the world will square off in a bout that will surely draw the eyes of every boxing fan. The two will fight for the WBA Super Middleweight title, The Ring Supermiddleweight titles, and the WBC belt.
Callum Smith enters the fight as the underdog at 27-0 with 19 knockouts. He is coming off a controversial fight with John Ryder in Liverpool over a year ago. Smith won the bout by unanimous decision, but fans still claim it was a draw at best for Smith. Smith is being counted out, not because he is a bad boxer, but because of his opponent. His opponent is at 30 years old, already in the conversation with some of the all-time greats.
Canelo Alvarez is currently 53-1-2 in his career with 36 knockouts. His last bout was also over a year ago against Sergey Kovalev in Vegas. Canelo is favored to win the bout, but here is how he can win and move onto bigger and better things and how Smith could shock the world with an upset.
How Canelo Can Win: Maintain Composure
Canelo is the favorite in this fight for a reason. He is a better all-around boxer, and he has been able to win the big fights in the past. The biggest fight Smith had was against Ryder, and he nearly dropped that one. The thing is, Smith is going to fight tactically and strategically. He will use his length to capitalize on Canelo and keep him from coming inside. Where Canelo can win is if he maintains his composure and doesn’t take wasted punches. If he can capitalize on the chances he has inside, then he can win this fight with ease.
How Smith Can Win: Control The Fight With Reach
Callum Smith is 6’3, Canelo is 5’8. That is a massive height difference. Canelo will need to fight inside against one of the best fighters in the world in terms of creating separation. Callum Smith ranks second in all of boxing and first in the super middleweight division with an average of 39.6 jabs thrown per round. Not only that, but he averages 7.8 jabs landed per round, which ranks first at super middleweight and fourth in all of boxing. Smith knows how to create separation and use his height to his advantage. Where he can win this fight is by doing just that. Canelo will want to hit him with his traditional explosive body shots, and if Smith can keep him at bay and send the bout to the cards, or even get a shot at knockout, he may just shock the world.
Prediction: Canelo knocks out Callum in the 9th Rd
In the end, Canelo will find opportunities and maintain composure throughout the bout because that’s who he is. I think this goes 9 and ends on behalf of Canelo’s fierce body shots. My final thought is that this is Canelo’s bout to lose, but there is significant upset potential.