King Arthur and his three world titles return to Canada.
Montreal resident Artur Beterbiev, the combined WBC/WBO/IBF light heavyweight champion, will defend his belts against WBC number 1 contender Callum “Mundo” Smith on Saturday, August 19 at the Videotron Center in Québec City, Canada.
Promoted by Eye of the Tiger and Top Rank, in partnership with Matchroom Boxing, Beterbiev-Smith and co-show, it will air live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10pm ET/7pm PT. The card will air live and exclusively on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland.
The August 19 event will be especially important for Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs), the only world boxing champion with a 100 percent knockout ratio. He hasn’t fought for Québec City since defending the IBF North American belt against Gabriel Campillo in 2015.
“This is a momentous event for us as we continuously strive to bring major fights back to the provinces. We are thrilled to achieve this with the greatest boxer in Quebec history, Artur Beterbiev, who will share the spotlight with other EOTTM fighters. We hope boxing fans will come in large numbers and this evening will mark the beginning of a new era for boxing in Quebec,” said Eye of the Tiger President Camille Estephan.
“The legend of the sport’s most feared boxer, Artur Beterbiev, continues his fight in beautiful Québec City on August 19 in what can’t fail to be a light heavyweight championship classic,” said Top Rank President Bob Arum. “Callum Smith is a well-deserved mandatory challenger who won’t be intimidated by fighting on Arthur’s home turf.”
“Québec is my second home, so I’m very happy to finally defend my titles at home,” said Beterbiev. “When you’re a world champion, everyone wants the opportunity to win your belt, and that’s especially true for me with three titles at stake. I’ve already started training camp and will be ready not only to defend my belts, but also to present myself on August 19.”
Smith said, “I’m excited to finally get the chance to become world champion in two weight divisions. I’m no stranger to away fights, I’ve boxed twice in Saudi Arabia, all over America, and now I’m heading to Canada on August 19th. I had no hesitation in going to Canada to fight Artur Beterbiev and I will come back to Canada. Liverpool are world champions again.”
Beterbiev, a two-time Olympian, has lived in Montreal since turning pro ten years ago. He has defended his world title seven times since knocking down Enrico Koelling for the vacant IBF title in November 2017. Beterbiev won the WBC belt with a thrilling knockout in 2019 over Oleksandr Gvozdyk, then added the WBO title to his collection with last year’s second round. Joe Smith Jr. He has only fought once in Canada as a world champion, via a ninth-round TKO over Marcus Browne in December 2021. Beterbiev continued Smith’s triumph with an exciting eight-round stoppage in January over Anthony Yarde in Yarde’s hometown of London.
Smith (29-1, 21 KOs) is a former WBA super middleweight world champion with victories over George Groves, Hassan N’Dam and John Ryder. His championship streak came to an end in December 2019 when he lost a one-sided decision to the great Canelo Alvarez in a bid to unify the title. Smith moved up to light heavyweight after Canelo’s loss and recorded knockout victories over Gilbert Castillo Rivera and Mathieu Bauderlique.
The full Beterbiev-Smith card, which also features undefeated super middleweight Christian Mbilli (24-0, 20 KOs) and heavyweight boxer Simon Kean (23-1, 22 KOs), will be announced soon. Local talents Wilkens Mathieu (2-0, 1 KO), Leïla Beaudoin (9-1, 1 KO) and Clovis Drolet (13-1, 9 KO) will also battle in front of hometown fans.
Tickets for the event, which will take place on August 19 at the Videotron Center, will go on sale tomorrow, May 26 at 12:00 p.m. PT at www.ticketmaster.ca.
