Callum Smith made a statement on his light-heavyweight debut with a frightening knockout of Lenin Castillo.
The former WBA super-middleweight (168lbs) champion is now set to challenge for the 175lbs world titles when he takes on WBC, IBF and WBO king Artur Beterbiev on Saturday night in Quebec.
Smith looked impressive in his first fight in the division, which took place on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk’s first victory over Anthony Joshua in 2021.
However, after the victory his celebrations were quickly halted.
Smith hammered Castillo with an overhand right in round two which saw him collapse backwards to the canvas.
He lay on his back shaking and the referee instantly waved the fight off.
Medical staff responded quickly and attended to Castillo, who was stretchered from the ring minutes afterwards.
Thankfully, positive updates followed despite the worrying scene.
Castillo was ‘responsive’ as he left the stadium to go to hospital.
Speaking after the final bell, Smith admitted it was unpleasant to see his Dominican foe in such distress.
Callum Smith’s knockout of Castillo was brutal. pic.twitter.com/UEPzvSt2p0
— Self Isolating Saunders 🇳🇬💭 (@40kgCostume) November 1, 2022
“It’s not nice. I celebrated before and then I realised how bad it was,” Smith said post-fight.
“That’s the last thing you want to see. Boxing is a tough enough sport as it is and we all have families to go home to.”
Fortunately, Castillo made a full recovery and has since returned to the ring four times.
Smith has just boxed once in that period, beating Mathieu Bauderlique in 2022.
Last year was a frustrating period for the Brit, as he had to cancel a tune-up bout due to injury and then his shot at Beterbiev was postponed so he went the entire year without boxing.
Smith is hoping to get 2024 off to a far better start on Saturday night.
