Callum Smith’s light-heavyweight title clash with Artur Beterbiev is POSTPONED after the Canadian is forced to pull out after undergoing jaw surgery
- Callum Smith was to face unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev
- But the clash set for August has been postponed after Beterbiev pulled out
- Beterbiev revealed doctors insisted he reschedule after having jaw surgery
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Callum Smith‘s shot at the WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev has been shelved.
The 33-year-old Smith had been set for a title bout in Quebec on August 19 but has now seen the fight cancelled as Beterbiev has undergone surgery on a jaw injury.
In a post on social media, Beterbiev revealed that doctors had advised to postpone as he recovers from the surgery and he insisted that the fight will take place at a later date.
‘Assalamu alaikum, dear friends! Unfortunately, the fight, which was scheduled for August 19, had to be postponed,’ Beterbiev wrote on Instagram.
‘I had a small operation on my tooth. And the doctors insisted on postponing the fight so that the jaw had time to heal.
Callum Smith’s clash with unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev has been postponed
Beterbiev revealed he had been advised to reschedule by doctors after undergoing oral surgery
The bout was set to mark Smith’s first world title fight since losing a decision to Canelo Alvarez in 2020
Thanks to everyone who has already bought tickets – the fight will definitely be on another day. God’s plans are much better than our dreams.’
Smith had won a title eliminator against Mathieu Bauderlique on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah last August.
The Briton will now be made to wait for his title shot with no date set for the rearranged bout.
Beterbiev is a Russian-born Canadian fighter who is the only world champion with a 100 per-cent knockout ratio.
Smith has lost just once in his professional career, losing the WBA super-middleweight title to Canelo Alvarez in 2020.
