Buatsi vs Smith

Who won Buatsi vs Smith?

Callum Smith beat Joshua Buatsi by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025, at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh.

The scorecards were announced as 115-113, 119-110, 116-112 in favor of winner Callum Smith.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Light Heavyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 175 pounds (12.5 stone or 79.4 kg).

This contest was for the WBO light heavyweight championship of the world.

was defending his CBC Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Championship for the first time. He won this belt against Dan Azeez in February 2024.He had held this belt for 1 year, 1 month and 22 days.

Buatsi was defending his WBO Interim World Light Heavyweight Championship for the first time. He won this belt against Callum Smith in February 2025.He had held this belt for 1 month and 3 days.

This fight appeared on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev losing to Dmitry Bivol for the IBF World Light Heavyweight, WBA Super World Light Heavyweight, WBC World Light heavyweight and WBO World Light heavyweight championship. Also on the undercard Joseph Parker beat Martin Bakole for the WBO Interim World Heavyweight belt, Carlos Adames defeated Hamzah Sheeraz for the WBC World Middleweight title, Vergil Ortiz Jr was victorious over Israil Madrimov, Zhilei Zhang lost to Agit Kabayel for the WBC Interim World Heavyweight championship, Shakur Stevenson defeated Josh Padley for the WBC World Lightweight championship, and Ziyad Almaayouf was victorious over Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira.

Buatsi vs Smith stats

Joshua Buatsi stepped into the ring with an undefeated record of 19 wins, zero losses, and 0 draws.

Callum Smith made his way to the ring with a record of 30 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws.

Joshua Buatsi was the younger man by 2 years, at 32 years old.

Smith had a height advantage of 1 inch over Buatsi. That also extended to a 4-inch reach advantage.

Both Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith fought out of an orthodox stance.

Buatsi was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 13 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2017, 4 years and 7 months later than Smith, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 53 fewer professional rounds, totaling 123 compared to Smith's 176.

Callum Smith was ranked number 7 by the WBO in the 175lb division.

Buatsi vs Smith form

Buatsi had won 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 1 of them, going the distance 4 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Willy Hutchinson on September 21, 2024, by split decision in their WBO Interim World Light Heavyweight championship fight at Wembley Stadium, Wembley, United Kingdom.

Prior to that, he had won against Dan Azeez on February 3, 2024, by unanimous decision in their BBBOC British Light heavyweight and CBC Commonwealth Light Heavyweight championship fight at OVO Arena Wembley, London.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Pawel Stepien on May 6, 2023, by unanimous decision in their 10 round contest at Genting Arena, Birmingham.

Before that, he had defeated Craig Richards on May 21, 2022, by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest at The O2 Arena, London.

He had won against Ricards Bolotniks on August 14, 2021, by technical knockout in the 11th round in their WBA Super World Light Flyweight eliminator fight at Matchroom Fight Camp, Essex.

Callum Smith had stopped 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had defeated Carlos Galvan on November 30, 2024, by technical knockout in the 5th round at Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Prior to that, he had been beaten by Artur Beterbiev on January 13, 2024, by technical knockout in the 7th round in their IBF World Light Heavyweight, WBC World Light heavyweight and WBO World Light heavyweight championship fight at Centre Videotron, Quebec City, Canada.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Mathieu Bauderlique on August 20, 2022, by knockout in the 4th round in their WBA World Light Heavyweight championship fight at Jeddah Superdome, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Before that, he had beaten Lenin Castillo on September 25, 2021, by knockout in the 2nd round at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, United Kingdom.

He had lost to Canelo Alvarez on December 19, 2020, by unanimous decision in their WBC World Super Middleweight and WBA Super World Super Middleweight championship fight at Alamodome, Texas, United States.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Joshua Buatsi had been fighting more than Callum Smith.

Going into this contest, Joshua Buatsi had last fought 5 months and 1 day ago, while Callum Smith's last outing had been 2 months and 23 days ago.

Buatsi's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 6 months and 8 days, which means he had been fighting approximately every 8 months and 14 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 57 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 11.4 rounds on average.

Smith's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 2 months and 3 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 10 months and 1 day. In those fights, he fought a total of 30 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 6 rounds on average.

What time did Buatsi vs Smith start?

The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 5:15 PM UTC at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was 12:15 PM EST or 9:15 AM PST on the West Coast of America, or 5:15 PM GMT in the UK.

Who broadcast Buatsi vs Smith?

Buatsi vs Smith was broadcast on DAZN PPV in both the United States and the UK.

What were the odds on Buatsi vs Smith?

Joshua Buatsi was a 1/2 (-200) favorite going into the contest, while Callum Smith made his way into the ring at 81/50 (+160) with oddsmakers.