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Giacomo Skeate
January 12, 2024
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Fight With Teddy Atlas Newsletter, your one stop shop for all things combat sports related, brought to you by Teddy and The Fight team.
Every Friday We Bring You:
A combat sports news digest with all the headlines you need to know from Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts.
Highlights from the podcast and across the fight world.
Fight times and information you need to know ahead of time.
How to’s and tips for Boxing from Teddy himself.
Fight News From Around The 🌍
Light Heavyweight Carnage
Tomorrow night, former super middleweight champion and now top light heavyweight contender Callum Smith will attempt to become the first man to defeat the knockout machine that is Artur Beterbiev.
Beterbiev has been a light heavyweight champion for over 6 years now, and on the way to collecting 3 out of 4 of the major belts, he has knocked out every single opponent he’s faced.
His hit list includes the likes of Joe Smith Jr, Marcus Browne, Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Anthony Yarde.
There’s an argument to be made, that Smith is his toughest test since he unified the WBC and IBF belts against the aforementioned Gvozdyk.
Smith is an ambitious former champion who has knocked out both of his 175 lbs opponents thus far, showing that he power has definitely carried up from 168 lbs.
He’s been under the bright lights before, having come up short against Canelo back in 2020, so he’ll be looking to use this opportunity to claim what would be his most impressive scalp to date.
As he approaches 40, it’ll be interesting to see whether Beterbiev will be starting to show more vulnerabilities than he did in the early days of his title reign.
Last time out against Anthony Yarde, he got into trouble numerous times, and even though he rallied to stop his opponent, those same mistakes against the younger, bigger Callum Smith might prove costly.
As the old saying goes, power is the last thing to go in a fighter, and as boxing’s only active world champ with a 100% KO ratio, it’s hard to ever count out the chances of Beterbiev finishing his man.
But outside of a certain Dmitry Bivol, there aren’t many left in the light heavyweight division who can be confident of beating the Russian.
Callum Smith can count himself as one of those few, and we’re looking forward to see how he rises to the challenge.
What to look for in the fight:
Exchange. The last time Beterbiev was dropped as a pro was from an exchange of hooks with Callum Johnson in 2019. Johnson and Smith used to share a trainer, so he’ll have undoubtably picked up on the opening and fancy his chances of doing more lasting damage this time.
Levels. Beterbiev is great at level changes and keeping his opponent on edge as to where his hooks and straight are coming from. Smith has had trouble in the past with opponents who do this. Smith’s high guard and long torso will create openings for Beterbiev to exploit.
Fight Odds
2nd Time Lucky?
After a four-week break, the UFC is back this weekend for a fight night card in Las Vegas, Nevada, headlined by a Light-Heavyweight rematch between #3 ranked Magomed Ankalaev and #7 Johnny Walker.
The two shared the octagon back at UFC 294, where Magomed Anklaev struck Johnny Walker with an illegal knee, resulting in a controversial No Contest decision.
Ankalaev now has a second chance to score a victory over Walker, knowing that a victory will put him in prime position to fight for the title against Alex Pereira. He was in the ascendency up until the illegal knee, so he’ll look to utilise his brand of technical striking for a longer stretch this time.
Walker is on the cusp of a title shot for the first time in his up and down UFC career. His more measured and technical fighting approach compared to his earlier UFC days has resulted in a three-fight win streak, with big wins over names like Anthony Smith and Ryan Spann.
A win over Ankalaev would propel him 4 places up in the rankings and put him in line for a potential UFC 300 fight against his compatriot Pereira, so he knows exactly what’s at stake now in this second chance at glory.
The odds favour the Russian, but it would be foolish to discount this more calculated, but equally as powerful version of Johnny Walker.
Fight ⏰ for this weekend
Boxing: Beterbiev vs Smith (Saturday 13th/Sunday 14th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 9pm Eastern/ 6pm Pacific | Main Event: 11pm Eastern/ 8pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 2am | Main Event: 4am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 11am Eastern/ 9am Western | Main event: 1pm Eastern/ 11am Western
MMA: Ankalaev vs Walker (Saturday 13th/Sunday 14th)
🇺🇸 Full Card: 7pm Eastern/4pm Pacific | Main Event: 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific
🇬🇧 Full Card: 12am | Main Event: 2am
🇦🇺 Full Card: 11am Eastern/ 9am Western | Main event: 1pm Eastern/ 11am Western