Callum Smith vs Canelo Alvarez: fight info, fighter stats, date, undercard and how to watch

News16 Dec, 2020 by Deke Smith | Quick read

Tags:
Canelo Alvarez
Callum Smith
Super-middleweight

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Smith vs Canelo fight week: everything you need to know about the return of Canelo Alvarez

This Saturday, pound for pound star Canelo Alvarez makes his first appearance in more than a year when he takes on WBA and The Ring super-middleweight champion, Callum Smith, with the WBC belt also up for grabs.

Last seen fighting at light-heavyweight when he relieved Sergey Kovalev of the WBO world title, Canelo will now be making his second appearance at super-middleweight (the first being a three-round demolition of Rocky Fielding back in 2018).

While already regarded as four-weight world champion, Canelo only holds the 'regular' version of the WBA super-middleweight strap. Should he beat Smith though, the 'four-weight' claim becomes legitimate and further cements his already solid position as the best active fighter on the planet.

Smith may present a few problems for Canelo though. Despite having already fought at super-middleweight and light-heavyweight, at 5' 9" Canelo is small in either of those divisions. Against Fielding, his far superior skill-set made the size difference irrelevant. But he struggled more with Kovalev before finding the knockout punch in the eleventh round.

At 6' 3", Callum Smith is a big super-middleweight, with greater height and reach than both Fielding and Kovalev. He is also an unbeaten world champion in his prime. But with that said, he did struggle in his last outing against John Ryder - a short, compact fighter (not unlike Canelo). It's a truly interesting fight, and we can't wait to see whether Smith's size will prove an advantage or a disadvantage.

Here's how the two stack up on paper -

Fighter stats -


Stats
Callum Smith
Canelo Álvarez
Age
30
30
Height
6' 3"
5' 9"
Reach
78"
70 1⁄2"
Fights
27
56
Wins
27
53
Wins by KO
19
36
Losses
0
1
Draws
0
2

Keys to victory

For Smith, the road to victory is an obvious one. It's unlikely he'll be able to match Canelo on the inside, so he'll want to keep the fight at range. Smith has an astonishing height and reach advantage but if he doesn't make them count the extra inches could become a hindrance - Canelo is an excellent body puncher, and Smith has a lot of body to hit.

Canelo will want the fight up close. While he is the superior boxer, he is up against an almost eight-inch reach advantage, meaning a boxing match from a distance will be extremely difficult. If he can get in past the long Smith jab, he'll have the upper-hand as the smaller, faster man. We expect him to invest a lot of time in body-work, making the fight as uncomfortable as possible for the champion.

Time, date and how to watch

Canelo vs Smith is available globally on the DAZN streaming platform and via TV Azteca in Mexico.

The event takes place on Saturday 19 December, with coverage beginning at 8 pm ET and ring walks for the main event expected at around 10:45 - 11 pm ET.

Who is fighting on the Canelo-Smith undercard?

Christian Alan Gomez Duran vs Angel Hernandez, Austin Williams vs Isiah Jones, Alexis Espino vs Ashton Sykes, Marc Castro vs TBA

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