The Beterbiev vs Smith press conference took place on Thursday morning, in Quebec, ahead of their world title fight this weekend.
On Saturday, the WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight champion defends his three versions of the world title against the former super middleweight world champ, Smith.
We’ve got all the Beterbiev vs Smith news coming out of today’s boxing press conference.
Beterbiev vs Smith Press Conference: Smith Expects To Improve From Canelo Defeat
At the Beterbiev vs Smith press conference there wasn’t too many angry words said between the pair, in fact not many words were shared at all.
Both Beterbiev and Smith are known to let their fists do the talking rather than run their mouths before the opening bell goes, and Thursday was no different.
The boxing press conference didn’t reveal too many details of either men’s plan, with the champion starting it off by apologising for his English not being great.
That may have been why he decided against giving too much detail when asked questions on the stage.
Smith isn’t known for his talking either but when it came back to the biggest fight in his career so far, the loss to Canelo Alvarez in December 2020, he promised a much better version of himself.
“He’s [Beterbiev] a three belt champion and his achievements speak for themselves. But, I believe in myself and I always have done.
“I believe the best version of me beats anyone in the world and I fully stand by that. I believe in the past couple of years under Buddy [McGirt] [Smith’s coach].”
On his improvement under McGirt he added, “I believe we’ll hopefully see some of the improvements this weekend. He’s tidied me up since the loss to Canelo. Every day is a school day, he’s made me an all round better fighter.
“I needed to be better [after the Canelo loss], I needed to make changes. I’ve put the work in since that fight and now I’m at this point. It’s an opportunity I’m not going to let slip.”
Beterbiev vs Smith Press Conference: The Champ Looks Forward To His Home Fight
Beterbiev’s trainer Marc Ramsey was asked about the champion fighting in front of a Canadian crowd, with Ramsey saying, “It’s great, eight years now Artur is a champion.
“We’ve travelled all around the world with the title, we never really have the chance to fight in front of our people, so this is great.”
In typical fashion, the Russian born boxer said he felt no pressure fighting in front of a crowd from the place he’s called home for the past 15 years, adding, “No pressure. I am focused on the fight. I’m happy they’ll come to watch us but I have a job to do.”
Beterbiev vs Smith Press Conference: The Knockout Record
With 19 stoppages from his 19 fights, the topic of Beterbiev’s knockout record inevitably came up.
Ramsey claimed that their camp don’t think about it or plan for another specifically and McGirt echoed those sentiments, saying, “ You can’t go into the fight thinking about his record. We know what’s in front of us, we’re not stupid. If you think about all that you’re in the wrong business”
