Taking one glance at the Callum Smith boxing record indicates just how elite of a boxer this Englishman truly is. Considering that Smith’s lone professional loss is against the long-reigning king of boxing’s super middleweight division, there’s no shame in Smith coming up short in that bout.
Yet, that loss occurred over three years ago now — and Smith has his sights set on reclaiming the glory that he was once so close to achieving (at a heavier weight class, as well.) A new champion awaits him that most within the boxing community believe is one of the best pound for pound fighters on the planet right now. So although this Callum Smith bio will display how worthy “Mundo” is to be taking on the light heavyweight champion, we won’t know until this weekend whether Smith has what it takes to become the champion himself.
Who is Callum Smith?
Callum Smith Bio
Callum “Mundo” Smith is an English professional boxer who is 33 years old, and was born in Liverpool, England. Callum Smith’s boxing record as a professional is 29-1 with 21 KO’s. Smith held the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version) and Ring magazine Super Middleweight titles from 2018 to 2020.
Boxing was always Callum Smith’s destiny, as he is the youngest of four brothers (Paul, Stephen, and Liam Smith) who are all professional boxers.
As an amateur, Smith won the 2010 Great Britain welterweight title, as well as the 2011 Great Britain Middleweight title. At the 2010 Commonwealth games in New Delhi, India, Smith earned a silver medal in the welterweight division (just as his brother Paul did eight years prior.)
Smith intended to be Great Britain’s representative at the 2012 London Olympic Games for the light heavyweight division, but his bid ended once he lost to Vatan Huseynli of Azerbaijan, in a bout where a win would have guaranteed that Smith qualified for the Olympics. While many believed Smith should have won the fight, not making the Olympic team was a devastating end to Smith’s amateur career.
Callum Smith Boxing Record (Professional)
Callum Smith made his professional boxing debut against Dan Blackwell at the age of 22 on November 17, 2012 — and proceeded to defeat Blackwell by points. After that victory, Smith kept amassing wins until his record reached 7-0, and he faced Patrick Mendy for the vacant English super middleweight title. Smith defeated Mendy via first round knockout, securing the first championship belt of Smith’s professional career.
Eight month later, Smith defeated defeated Tobias Webb via 2nd-round knockout to retain the WBC International title, which he won a month after the Mendy victory.
Smith also took part in the inaugural World Boxing Super Series as a super middleweight. Smith — who has amassed a 24-0 professional record to that point — advanced to the final of the Super Series, which pitted him against George Groves. In the bout that took place at London’s O2 Arena on June 2, 2018, Smith defeated Groves via seventh-round KO, and therefore claimed the WBA super middleweight title along with the vacant Ring magazine title.
Álvarez vs Smith
On December 19, 2020, Smith — who was an undefeated 27-0 at the time— attempted the third defense of his WBA and Ring super middleweight titles against Canelo Álvarez. Ultimately, Smith was dominated from pillar to post in the fight, and lost via unanimous decision to Álvarez, with the judges’ scorecards showing 117–111 and 119–109 twice in favor of Álvarez. With the first loss of his professional career, Smith lost his WBA and Ring super middleweight titles.
Smith vs Bauderlique
Following his first professional loss against Álvarez, Smith moved up in weight to boxing’s light heavyweight division. After defeating Lenin Castillo in his first fight in the new weight class, Smith was matched up against Mathieu Bauderlique on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua II on August 20, 2022.
Smith produced the best performance of his career against Bauderlique, knocking him out with a vicious left hook in the fourth round. With the victory, Smith earned his chance to face unified light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev for the IBF, WBO, and WBC belts.
Beterbiev vs Smith
Rebounding excellently from his loss against Canelo Álvarez at the end of 2022, Callum Smith has more than earned his chance to fight Artur Beterbiev. Yet, this upcoming fight is sure to be the toughest test of Smith’s career.
Smith, however, will undoubtedly be the most difficult opponent that Beterbiev has faced to date, and Smith’s distinct height advantage should afford him the upper hand in some aspects of this weekend’s fight.
While it remains to be seen whether Smith will be able to avoid Beterbiev’s fight-stopping power (he has knocked out every professional opponent he has faced) considering the adversity that Smith has faced — and triumphed over — in his career, we wouldn’t put it past him to produce a shocking upset victory on Saturday.
Grant Young is a sports writer from San Francisco. He has had two professional Muay Thai fights: he got knocked out in one, and got a knockout in the other. When it comes to his favorite fighters, it's Israel Adesanya, and then it's everyone else.
