It’s time.

It’s past time.

Lineal world light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev retained history’s throne for the fifth time on Saturday, handing former WBA super middleweight titlist Callum Smith his first stoppage loss. At a perfect 20-0, all of them inside the distance, it confirmed what we already knew.

The man who finally defeats Beterbiev, if age, injury, and inactivity don’t do it first, will have to be a special talent.

Smith wasn’t up to the task. The challenger looked really good in his previous two encounters at light heavyweight, both stoppage wins, but there was an important caveat to that. The caveat is he wasn’t fighting Artur Beterbiev. While Smith was able to take a sustained beating in his only other loss, to Saul Alvarez, and keep his feet, that wasn’t going to be an option on Saturday.

Beterbiev went about his business as he usually does, applying smart pressure, accurate punching, and some of the best come forward footwork in boxing. Few fighters this side of Julio Cesar Chavez have been more adept at cutting off the ring. Trainer Buddy McGirt did right by Smith after two knockdowns in round seven, saving him further punishment even as Smith rose ready to eat more leather.

So, yeah, it’s time.

Futures: For six years, both Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol have held belts at light heavyweight without facing each other. Bivol has defended the WBA belt as its primary titlist eleven times. Beterbiev has defended the IBF strap eight times, adding the WBC and WBO belts along the way. Bivol is 4-0 against fighters listed top ten or champion in their division by TBRB or Ring Magazine. Beterbiev is 7-0 against the same measure.

They are 0-0 against each other, their separate-ness in the same division spanning longer than Mayweather-Pacquiao, Spence-Crawford, Kovalev-Stevenson, or in a previous light heavyweight generation Jones-Michalczewski. 

There are positive signs we may finally see this generational light heavyweight clash come together this year in Saudi Arabia. To be fair, there isn’t a huge economic market for the fight in the United States, though it would likely sell like gangbusters in Montreal. Wherever it happens, it needs to get done. Can the pressure and power of Beterbiev overwhelm the patient, exacting boxing of Bivol? 

Let’s find out.   

Cliff Notes…

Jason Moloney-Saul Sanchez gave 2024 it’s first bona fide fight of the year candidate. For fans tuned in for the ESPN+ undercard, they got a genuine treat. Sanchez came up short but earned more television time and may be a titlist with more opportunity. Moloney, since a knockout loss to Naoya Inoue, has shown just how impressive that win was…Jai Opetaia-Mairis Briedis II, if it lands on the undercard of Fury-Usyk, adds serious muscle to that card. It’s not often we see a pair of fights between the two best in their class back-to-back…Why are we hearing about Rey Vargas fighting someone other than Brandon Figueroa? That one has real intrigue at featherweight…Vasyl Lomachenko-George Kambosos doesn’t do much to raise the pulse but it could set the stage for some lightweight unification bouts that could. 

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com