The Callum Smith Conundrum

Elliot Worsell hears from Joe Gallagher and Eddie Hearn regarding the WBC supermiddle champ

ALLUM SMITH is the WBA supermiddleweight champion but could, according to his coach, Joe Gallagher, be all that and more if only he is given the chance. He could, Gallagher believes, replicate his super-middleweight success at lightheavyweight. He could be recognised as Britain’s best pound-for-pound fighter. He could be a pay-per-view star. He could, in the end, go down as one of the greats. But first he must be acknowledged, respected and rewarded.

With the room now crowded, and the window of opportunity liable to slam shut when you least expect it, Gallagher has warned Smith’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, that they are serious about getting a move on and, moreover, not opposed to moving on from Matchroom Boxing if that’s what it takes.

“We had a meeting in Mexico and told him we have a couple of good offers on the table and that we’re considering moving,” Gallagher told Boxing News. “It’s up to him to come back with something. He’s turned around and taken that on board. He has said he’s going to go to DAZN and see what he can do.”

Last September the picture looked quite different for Smith, 26-0 (19). He was headlining in Saudi Arabia – hardly ideal – and sending George Groves to the canvas to win both the Londoner’s WBA title and the World Boxing Super Series’ Muhammad Ali trophy. That should have heralded the birth of a new British boxing star. It should have been Smith’s coronation night.

Instead, little has happened since, the win remains his crowning achievement and Smith, whose girlfriend gave birth at the start of the year, has boxed just once in the last 12 months.

That was in June against Hassan N’Dam, a fringe contender at middleweight. It wasn’t so much a fight as a hiding – a hiding to nothing.