AFTER his world title winning performance against George Groves, WBA super-middleweight champion Callum Smith is widely regarded as the number one in his division. He is now looking to unify and take on the biggest names in the sport, even Canelo Alvarez who still holds a WBA ‘regular’ title at 168lbs although his next fight will be a middleweight unification against Danny Jacobs in May.
“Callum is training,” his trainer and manager Joe Gallagher told Boxing News. “Callum wants unification fights. He wants [IBF titlist] Caleb Plant, that’s a big fight for him. He wants to unify the division at some point.
“He wants the big fights. Me and Callum have sat down, we’ve looked at the light-heavyweight division, we’ve looked at [WBO 175lbs champion Sergey] Kovalev. [WBA light-heavy boss Dmitry] Bivol’s been mentioned as well and there’s also the Canelo fight as well. I see the WBA haven’t stripped him of his regular belt. If he wants to fight the true champion of that division and the number one, we’re open for that fight, whether it’s September, October time. From what I’m hearing Canelo’s got so many dates and after Jacobs and the GGG unfinished business… He’s a busy operator but you never know the Callum Smith fight might appease him. As far as Callum Smith is concerned they’re the big fights and that’s what we’re after.”
Smith’s last three fights were part of his victorious run in the World Boxing Super Series but he has been working with promoter Eddie Hearn. The US arm of Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing has been staging contests for British fighters in America against some of the biggest names in the sport. For instance Rocky Fielding, a victim of Smith’s at British title level, was the last man to take on Canelo Alvarez.
“I don’t think anyone would begrudge Callum having a defence of his WBA title,” Gallagher noted. “But I think he wants the big fights.”
“It’s all about the opponents,” he concluded. “At the end of the day what the fans want to see is the best fighting the best and that’s Callum Smith wants to do. He wants to fight the best fighters in the world. If the Canelo fight can be done on DAZN, great. If for the Caleb Plant fight to be done, it has to go on Fox Sports, great. We just want to fight the best.”
