Smith v Sjekloca: Callum Smith ready for WBC super-middleweight eliminator

Callum Smith believes he is ready to mix it at world level but admits he will discover on Saturday how much he has progressed as a fighter.

The 24-year-old takes on Montenegrin fighter Nikola Sjekloca in a WBC super-middleweight title eliminator on the undercard of Cleverly v Bellew II, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

He has had 30 fights and has only lost two, both of them to world champions. It is only the best who have beaten him.

And Smith says he is determined to show his class in front of a sell-out crowd at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.

“On paper this is a massive step up but we won’t know how much of a step up it really is until Saturday night,” he said.

“He has had 30 fights and has only lost two, both of them to world champions. It is only the best who have beaten him but I believe I am good enough to beat him and I certainly think I will prove it. I am ready for it, I wouldn’t have taken the step up if I didn’t believe I was ready.

Stylistically

“I had watched a lot of him because he boxed Arthur Abraham in the fight before (my brother) Paul boxed Abraham, so that fight was on in the gym a lot, so I know what he is like stylistically.

“I remember watching him and thinking it would be a good step up for me. He is a good upright boxer, he likes to keep everything long, but I am tall myself and I feel my inside works a lot better than his and whatever he brings I can bring better.

“Abraham and Bika are well known and experienced fighters in my weight division. Sakio Bika was WBC world champion until the summer, and Abraham obviously still is WBO world champion, so they are not mugs who have beaten him and he has beaten everybody else who has been put in front of him and there are some good fighters on his record.

It is a step up but it is me who is taking the jump up, it wasn’t put on me, so it is a step I feel I am ready for.

“It is a step up but it is me who is taking the jump up, it wasn’t put on me, so it is a step I feel I am ready for. If I didn’t feel I was ready for this step I wouldn’t have taken it or would have taken a smaller jump up but I definitely do feel it is a fight that will bring out the best of me.”

Explosive

Smith is delighted with how far he has come since turning pro in 2012 and hopes he can continue to keep delivering in explosive fashion.

“I don’t think anybody expected me to come this far in two years,” he said. "But I had a lot of first-round wins early on and when you knock people out in the first round the only option is to step up.

“I’ve kept stepping up and delivered every time I stepped up and if you keep delivering then you will keep stepping up.”

Watch Smith v Sjekloca and Cleverly v Bellew II live and exclusive on Sky Sports Box Office on November 22, with Joshua, Groves, DeGale and more, also on the bill. Go to skysports.com/cleverlybellew to book.