Box of Celebrations already lined up to get the Smith party started
Smith put Christmas on hold to face Beterbiev (circle)
EXCLUSIVEBY
CALLUM SMITH has tucked away a box of Celebrations for his postfight party to ensure he is in top shape for his world title bid.
The Liverpool fighter is in Canada ahead of his showdown with WBC, WBO and IBF light-heavyweight king Artur Beterbiev this weekend.
Smith, 33, was due to face feared puncher Beterbiev – who has stopped all 19 of his professional foes – last August but the Russian-born Canadian picked up a facial injury.
That meant the clash was pushed back to this weekend, with plans for a summer trip to Quebec changed for a freezing cold week across the pond.
But it also wrecked Smith’s hopes of stuffing his face over Christmas as, even though he has now moved up from super-middleweight, he had to watch the scales and his sweet tooth was left unsatisfied.
“I was probably not the most enjoyable to be around,” said the EXWBA super-middleweight champion.
“I’ve got two young little kids so Christmas was tough on that side.
“Christmas should be movies, sitting around and eating a load of junk food but that wasn’t the case for me this year. It is my job, I go to the gym for work and the sacrifices are for the end goal. I’m fighting for three world titles, you can’t get more motivation than that.”
But Smith has his own special plans to celebrate if he upsets the favourite in the early hours of Sunday morning.
“It wasn’t so much the turkey and the other Christmas food, it’s the sweet tooth I have,” he added. “The Heroes and Celebrations were all over the house, all over my mum’s house so I had to avoid them.
“I’ve made sure there’s a box hidden away so they didn’t get eaten. They’ll taste a lot sweeter when I’m back with three world title belts, too.”
Smith lost the WBA title to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in December 2020.
He moved up to light-heavyweight after that first career defeat but he has had just two – albeit very impressive – fights since in his new division.
Smith stopped Gilbert Castillo and Mathieu Bauderlique at lightheavyweight in brutal fashion, but the latter was way back in August 2022 on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s defeat by Oleksandr Usyk.
Beterbiev, who turns 39 later this month, has boxed just once since June 2022 and that was a stoppage victory against Londoner Anthony Yarde last January at Wembley Arena.