NEW WBA world champion Callum Smith has encouraged Gennady Golovkin to step up to super-middleweight.
Smith defeated George Groves on Friday in Jeddah and has returned to England as the number one in the 168lbs division and World Boxing Super Series winner with a very bright future at the highest level of the sport.
โHeโs a massive name,โ Smith said of Golovkin. โIโm sure financially it would be good and a win over him is still a massive win. Even though heโs just lost, a lot of people didnโt think he did and it was a good fight. Heโs had two very high profile fights with Canelo. Iโd go as far to say heโs still the biggest name possible for me to fight. I think heโs a bigger name than the other light-heavyweights and the super-middleweights.โ
If Groves hadnโt been fit to contest the Super Series final, Smithโs trainer Joe Gallagher had suggested Golovkin be invited in as a replacement. โI was thinking, Donโt you like me, Joe?โโ Callum laughed.
But now, after stopping Groves inside seven rounds, Smith would welcome the opportunity to fight Golovkin at super-middleweight. โI think he would get people praising him doing it. But I think heโd get a bit of criticism for doing it because heโll do it now but he wouldnโt do it when [Andre] Ward wanted him to, that kind of thing. He was saying he didnโt want to move up then, now he might move up. People might say, โWhatโs different now than then?โ But possibly I think he could. Heโs a good fighter.โ
But Smith added, โThereโs a lot of middleweights who could move up. I could move up eventually. Thereโs a lot of fights in around the weight division. Chavez [Junior] is back fightingโฆโ
One light-heavyweight whom Smith knows well is WBA world champion Dmitry Bivol. The two have fought before, in 2012 when they were amateurs. Bivol won that, a semi-final of the Bocskai tournament in Hungary, and Smith is keen to settle the score. โA Bivol rematch would be good. We had a good fight in the amateurs. Heโs a good fighter,โ he said. โI remember boxing him thinking heโs decent. He didnโt box then how he does now, he throws decent body shots now. It was a good close fight.
โYou didnโt really see many of the top people you fight in the amateurs in the pros whereas now youโre starting to see more of them, more and more of the Russians and Ukrainians are turning over. Whereas you never used to see them two years ago.โ
There are big fights ahead of him, even if itโs difficult to say now exactly what they will be. โItโs hard to predict, you never know. A new star could be born in a year who Iโve never heard of now or a top middleweight could move up to super-middle. Itโs hard to predict,โ Callum said.
First of all he wants to cement his place at the number one in the 168lbs division. โThe weight isnโt killing me at the minute,โ he said. โIn the ring I felt good, I felt strong, my energy levels were good. I donโt think Iโll move up any time soon. Thereโs a lot I want to achieve at super-middle.โ