Paulie Malignaggi is the latest boxing figure to heap praise on Artur Beterbiev after the light-heavyweight champion destroyed Callum Smith last weekend.
Beterbiev was defending his unified titles at 175lbs, and he made it 20 stoppages from as many fights as he dropped Smith twice in the seventh round before the bout was halted.
Many within the boxing industry expected Smith to cause an upset but the Liverpool man had no answer to Beterbiev’s frequent attacks.
Next up for the menacing fighter is likely to be an undisputed battle against Dmitry Bivol, and he’ll head to that one in impressive form following another dominant display against Smith.
“He was really putting Callum Smith in uncomfortable places where, physically and mentally, he was stressing Callum,” said Malignaggi when speaking to ProBox TV.
“You start to see that with a lot of Beterbiev’s opponents that do end up going some rounds, the ones that he doesn’t get rid of early. You start to see how the stress starts to get to them. They start to physically and mentally wear away.”
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