It’s the biggest boxing event of the year so far on Saturday night, as undefeated Artur Beterbiev is back in the ring for the first time in nearly a year.
The Canadian is involved in the latest defense of his three versions of the light heavyweight world title against Callum Smith.
We’ve got all the all the Beterbiev vs Smith predictions for you ahead of an exciting night in Quebec, Canada.
It’s not just the main event that will excite fight fans though and we’ll provide all the info on the Beterbiev vs Smith full card prediction.
Beterbiev vs Smith Prelim Predictions: More Than One Title Fight
Whilst the return to action of Beterbiev, the man with a perfect record of stoppages in his career, will catch the most attention, there is more than just his three pieces of gold on the line.
Smith is a very live challenger for his three belts and the chance to take on Dimitry Bivol for all the light heavyweight marbles.
It wouldn’t be boxing’s biggest shock if the British fighter can pull it off but the safest option is still to back the champ to defend his belts on home turf.
Official Prediction: Beterbiev via stoppage
Jason Moloney vs Saul Sanchez
In the semi main-event, Moloney defends the belt he won against Vincent Astrolabio last May for the first time.
The champion’s only previous defeats came against quality opponents in Emmanuel Rodriguez and Naoya Inoue and he’s won his previous five.
The challenger doesn’t have the same pedigree on his record as his opponent on Saturday, although he’s also only had two defeats in his professional career.
Whilst most of his career wins have come via stoppage, Moloney’s recent record has more fights going the distance.
That’s once again the likely method of victory for the Australian.
Official Prediction: Moloney via decision
Christian Mbilli vs Rohan Murdock
Beterbiev isn’t the only knockout artist on the card from Quebec, with super middleweight’s Mbili having stopped 21 of his 25 previous opponents in an undefeated start to his career,
However, as the opponents have got more difficult, the Frenchman has struggled a little more to end fights early, with two of his most recent three bouts going the distance.
He’s the man waiting for the man waiting for Canelo Alvarez as he tops the WBA and WBC rankings behind ‘regular’ and interim champions.
Mbilli will be expected to make relatively easy work of Murdock and we can’t see beyond a win.
Official Prediction: Mbilli via stoppage
Imam Khataev vs Rodolfo Gomez Jr
2020 Olympics bronze medalist Khataev is an up and comer in the light heavyweight division and has started his professional career in the same fashion as Beterbiev.
The 29-year-old Russian is 5-0 at the start of his career in the paid ranks and has finished all five of those fights in a stoppage.
Maybe he’ll also be a world champion at the weight with all knockouts in the future, much like the star of Saturday’s show.
He should certainly continue that run against Gomez Jr, whos is 1-3-2 in his previous six fights
Official Prediction: Khataev via stoppage
Christopher Guerrero vs Sergio Garcia Herrera
This one seems like another mismatch, with Guerrero starting his young career in impressive fashion so far.
The 22-year-old has nine wins out of nine with five of those coming before the judges had to weigh in on deciding who’d won.
He’ll be expected to continue his rise in the welterweight division as the home fighter on Saturday night.
His opponent is similarly inexperienced, but the Mexican is 7-3 at the start of his career and lost last time out.
Official Prediction: Guerrero via stoppage
Mehmet Unal vs Dragan Lepei
Former kickboxer Unal comes into this one with an undefeated record and will be looking to add another victory as he continues on this path.
The 30-year-old’s unorthodox journey into professional boxing is certainly an interesting one and he’ll likely take the next step on Saturday.
Lepei has much more experience with his hands, having fought 30 times previously but has lost four of his most recent eight fights.
Official Prediction: Unal vis stoppage
Leila Beaudoin vs Elizabeth Chavez Espinoza
Beaudoin will be looking for revenge on Saturday night, when she comes up against the only woman to have beaten her so far.
Espinoza was expected to be the Canadian’s 10th victim when the pair met last May in Mexico.
However, it was the underdog fighting in her home country who came out on top in a unanimous decision victory.
She hadn’t won in six fights before that shock victory and has lost in her only bout since.
Official Prediction: Beaudoin via decision
Moreno Fendero vs Victor Hugo Flores
Inexperienced Fendero takes just the third fight of his professional career on Saturday night, with all of the bouts taking place in Canada.
He’s the favorite to continue the perfect start to his boxing record, as he takes on Hugo Flores in the super middleweight division.
With just a 7-2 record since making his debut nearly seven years ago, it does seem the Mexican is just being offered up to Fendero.
Official Prediction: Fendero via decision
Wilkens Mathieu vs Jose Arias Alvarez
There will be a lot of interest in Quebec for the opening bout of Saturday night, as hometown youngster Mathieu makes his first appearance in his home city.
The 19-year-old is 5-0 at the start of his professional career but all of his previous bouts have been in Montreal.
It’s unlikely he’ll need a boost from the home crowd to take on Alvarez with a record of 3-1 but he’ll definitely get it.
It might be a bigger shock to the Quebec crowd if Mathieu loses than if their man tastes defeat in the main event.
Official Prediction: Mathieu via decision
Beterbiev vs Smith Full Card Predictions and Prelim Betting Picks
It’s expected to be a huge night of boxing so early in 2024 on Saturday night in Quebec, with plenty to be interested in.
Smith will be looking to spoil the party and show everyone that the Canadian has got old in his year out of the ring.
Away from the main event, we’ve got all our Beterbiev vs Smith prelims prediction with another world title fight, some rookies and plenty for the home crowd to cheer on.
Light heavyweight world title: Beterbiev (-450) to beat Smith (+320) by stoppage
Bantamweight world title: Moloney (-425) to beat Sanchez (+300) by decision
Super middleweight: Mibilli (-1600) to beat Murdock (+800) by stoppage
Light heavyweight: Khataev (-4000) to beat Gomez Jr (+1100) by stoppage
Welterweight: Guerrero (-2000) to beat Herrera (+850) by stoppage
Light heavyweight: Unal (-3000) to beat Lepei (+1000) by stoppage
Super featherweight: Beaudoin to beat Espinoza by decision
Super middleweight: Fendero to beat Flores by decision
Super middleweight: Mathieu to beat Alvarez by decision
We’re expecting a night for the favorites in Canada this weekend and it’s not super obvious where any wins for the underdogs are going to come.
The two world title fights are the closest fights according to the bookies but our Beterbiev vs Smith predictions still have the champions coming out with the belts.
Perhaps the only way that our Beterbiev vs Smith picks would sway towards a challenger is if the light heavyweight champion has got old in his near 12 month absence from the ring.
Beterbiev has had to battle an issue with his jaw in the intervening time out of action, and it’s likely his jaw will be tested.
He has to get close to Smith to stop the Britain’s jab from being a factor, as happened in the Liverpudlian’s loss to Canelo and his close call with John Ryder.
Moloney has a lot to prove as champion at bantamweight and will hope to be successful in his first title defense.
If the Australian can head home with his belt still draped around him then he could look to a potential unification fight with IBF champ Emmanuel Rodriguez.
The Puerto Rican is one of only two men to have previously defeated Moloney, who could be on a revenge mission with a win this weekend.
Take our boxing picks as you will — there’s no such thing as a safe bet in combat sports, so bet at your own risk.
Ryan Sidle is a sports journalist with nearly a decade in the industry. He's been interested in boxing since Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno and his MMA fandom was sparked by Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva.
