Eddie Hearn believes unbeaten Super Middleweight sensation Callum Smith will be rubbing shoulders with Carl Froch and George Groves in 18 months as he prepares for action at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff on May 17, live on Sky Sports.
Smith has raced to 10-0 with eight KOs since turning pro in November 2012 and defends his WBC International title against Swansea’s Tobias Webb next weekend, and Smith says that this fight will be a great yardstick of his rapid progress to date.
“It was a fight that was mentioned for the Froch vs. Kessler bill a year ago, so I think we’ve always been likely to fight sooner rather than later,” said Smith. “It’s a good fight for me and I think that this will show what level I am at. My brother Paul was meant to fight him earlier in the year and he was disappointed that it didn’t come off but that’s boxing, these things work themselves out and now I get the chance to face him.
“Tobias is an ambitious guy and he will be coming to win, and I have said that fighting guys who believe they can beat me will bring the best out of me and we’ll really see how good I am.”
The Liverpool sensation went on a remarkable run of six straight first round wins, with the final one against Patrick Mendy landing him the English title before he stepped up in class to stop former World title challenger Ruben Acosta in six rounds with a mature performance that saw him land a spot in ESPN’s 2013 Top Boxing Prospects and as a fighter to watch by The Ring magazine.
The 24 year old returned from injury last month with a third round stoppage win and his promoter believes there is no stopping the youngest of the Smith brothers.
“With only ten fights under his belt, Callum is already one of the hottest prospects in world boxing,” said Hearn. “We’ve fast tracked him to this point and we don’t intend to slow down.
“Tobias will bring something different, he’ll show plenty of ambition and be backed by vociferous home support, but ultimately the plan is World honours for Callum.
“Quite rightly Callum looks at one fight at a time, but I look at the bigger picture which is ultimately to have Callum in the mega domestic Super Middleweight mix within 18 months.”
Smith’s clash with Webb is part of a great line-up of action in Cardiff as Lee Selby faces Romulu Koasicha in an official eliminator for the WBC Featherweight title with the International belt on the line.
Nathan Cleverly makes his debut at Cruiserweight against Guyana’s Shaun Corbin with the WBA Inter-Continental title up for grabs, Gavin Rees bows out of the pro game with a rematch against Gary Buckland, Dale Evans faces Mark Douglas, plus there’s action for Chris Jenkins, Mitch Buckland, Robbie Turley and Alex Hughes.
