Callum Smith’s hopes of getting his chance to fight for the world lightweight belt drew closer.
The World Boxing Council (WBC) has announced a knockout match between their number one contender, blacksmith, and the second is Mathieu Bauderlique from France. The wallet bid ceremony will take place on Friday, July 1.
Smith v Bauderlique recently appeared in the rumor mill and is being considered for search Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua 2 on August 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn also represents Smith and will confidently win the fight. The boss of Matchroom works with the managers of Bauderlique ‘Opi Since 82’ to organize co-promotions in Italy.
Smith, 32, is aiming to become a second-weight world champion after winning the WBA Super Middleweight title four years ago in the World Super Series Boxing Finals knocking out George Groves in the seventh round.
After two defenses, Liverpudlian lost the title to Canelo Alvarez 18 months ago and decided to raise his 6-foot-3 goal up to 175lbs. His Light Heavy debut began with a chilling second-round win over Lenin Castillo last year on the Joshua-Usyk 1 card in London.
Bauderlique, a 32-year-old male tennis player, has won nine straight matches since being stopped on the first round in an eight-round match against Dragan Lepei five years ago. Most recently, the 2016 Olympic athlete won the European lightweight belt by defeating Igor Mikhalkin (who fights Callum Johnson this Saturday) after the Russian broke his jaw in the second half and then retired in the seventh.
Artur Betterbiev is the reigning WBC champion and also holds the IBF and WBO belts after destroying Joe Smith Jr in two rounds 11 days ago.
