Callum Smith

Callum Smith is a professional boxer who was born in Liverpool, England, on April 23, 1990. Living in a small house with his parents, sister and four brothers forced Smith to grow up quickly. He idolized his three older brothers as a small child, which eventually led to a career in boxing. All three of Callum’s older brothers are professional boxers, so it is only natural that he would follow in their footsteps.

Smith began his competitive amateur boxing career in 2010 at the age of 20. After dominating the amateur welterweight division in Great Britain, he entered the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India. He eventually ended up winning the silver medal at the prestigious tournament. Smith then attempted to become the only representative for Great Britain in the light heavyweight division at the 2012 Olympics in London. Despite being one of the most impressive boxers throughout the qualification tournament, Smith was unable to secure a spot on the Olympic team.

The disappointment in the Olympic qualification tournament forced Callum Smith to focus on his professional boxing career. He officially made his professional debut in a match against Dan Blackwell on November 17, 2012. Smith won the four-round fight by decision. An impressive string of five straight knockouts in the first round gave Callum the opportunity to fight for his first title less than a year after turning pro. He easily defeated Patrick Mendy with a first round technical knockout on September 21, 2013, to win the vacant English super-middleweight title.

The easy win over Mendy earned Smith an opportunity to win another title in his next fight. One month after winning his first title, Callum knocked out Reuben Eduardo Acosta of Argentina in the sixth round to win the vacant WBC International super-middleweight title. He went on to successfully defend the new title against Tobias Webb and Vladine Biosse in 2014. He vacated the title shortly after these two wins to take on more accomplished boxers. The first fight after vacating the title came against Abraham Hernandez at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. This was the first time Callum fought outside of England, but it did not stop him from getting another knockout victory in the first round.

After winning three more fights, Smith got a chance to win the vacant WBC Silver super-middleweight title on June 26, 2015. The match against Christopher Rebrasse was held at the Echo Arean in Liverpool. Callum used the home crowd to get a unanimous decision victory over the Frenchman. A first round technical knockout over Rocky Fielding earned Callum the British super-middleweight title. Smith successfully defended the WBC Silver super-middleweight title on April 2, 2016, against Hadillah Mohoumadi with another first round technical knockout.

Despite the impressive victories, Callum was still waiting to get a world title shot. The lack of a big title match forced Smith to defend his current titles against lesser opponents. He successfully retained his two titles with knockout wins over Norbert Nemesapati and Luke Blackledge. The win over Blackledge let Callum end 2016 with a perfect professional record of 22-0.