In the wake of David Benavidez’s elevation to champion, Stephen Smith has called on the WBO to follow suit and promote his brother Callum Smith to full world champion status—setting up a potential unification clash with Benavidez.
Callum Smith, the former super middleweight world champion and current WBO interim light heavyweight titleholder, has been on the comeback trail since suffering a defeat to Artur Beterbiev in early 2024. He bounced back from the loss with a terrific performance against Joshua Buatsi in his last fight.
The Light Heavyweight Landscape in Early 2025
Callum Smith (31-2, 22 KOs) has navigated a challenging path in the light heavyweight division. After a dominant run as a super middleweight, culminating in winning the World Boxing Super Series and holding the WBA (Super) and Ring magazine titles, Smith moved up to 175 pounds. His first major test in the new weight class came on January 13, 2024, when he challenged the formidable Artur Beterbiev for the unified IBF, WBC, and WBO light heavyweight titles. Smith suffered a TKO loss in the seventh round against the undefeated Beterbiev, marking only his second professional defeat. Undeterred, Smith quickly returned to action, securing a TKO victory over Carlos Galvan on November 30, 2024. This set the stage for a crucial clash against fellow Briton Joshua Buatsi on February 22, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In what was widely hailed as a “fight of the year contender,” Smith delivered a stellar performance, inflicting Buatsi’s first professional defeat via unanimous decision and claiming the WBO interim light heavyweight title. The judges scored the bout 115-113, 116-112, and 119-110 in Smith’s favor.
Meanwhile, David Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs), known as “The Mexican Monster,” was making his own impactful ascent in the light heavyweight division. After an undefeated reign and multiple world titles at super middleweight, Benavidez moved up to 175 pounds. He captured the interim WBC light heavyweight title by defeating Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15, 2024. Benavidez further solidified his position by defeating David Morrell via unanimous decision on February 1, 2025, retaining his WBC interim title and adding the WBA (Regular) light heavyweight belt to his collection.
The light heavyweight division saw significant shifts in early 2025, particularly concerning the undisputed championship. Artur Beterbiev had previously defeated Dmitry Bivol by majority decision on October 12, 2024, to become the undisputed light heavyweight champion. However, Bivol avenged that loss in their highly anticipated rematch on February 22, 2025, also winning by majority decision to reclaim the undisputed status. Following this, Bivol made the strategic decision to vacate his WBC light heavyweight title on April 7, 2025, in pursuit of a trilogy fight with Beterbiev. This move directly led to David Benavidez being elevated from interim to full WBC light heavyweight champion.
Callum Smith’s Brother Wants David Benavidez Fight
“First and foremost, Callum and his team have to push the WBO to do the same thing,” Stephen Smith told Boxing News 24. “If Callum gets made world champion, then the next fight against David Benavidez could be for two titles rather than one.”
David Benavidez was upgraded to full WBC light-heavyweight champion recently, after Dmitry Bivol decided to vacate the belt, likely in order to face Beterbiev for a third time. Bivol lost to Beterbiev in their first fight but evened the score in their rematch.
Smith argues that Callum, as WBO interim champion, is now in the exact same position and deserves similar treatment.
“Callum is in the same situation David Benavidez has been in as interim champion, so if the WBO take a leaf out of what the WBC have done, then Callum can be elevated to world champion,” Stephen added.
“It’ll be a unification rather than Callum challenging for the WBC title.”
Smith has claimed his goal has always been to be a two-weight world champion.
