Callum Smith seemingly had little room to operate against Artur Beterbiev inside a small ring January 13 at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.

As the aggressor and harder puncher, Beterbiev benefited from a ring that measured 18 feet inside the ropes, smaller than the standard squared circle used for most professional boxing matches. The unbeaten Beterbiev undeniably was the better, sharper boxer both offensively and defensively, yet the tiny ring was widely viewed as a disadvantage for Smith.

Beterbiev became the first opponent to drop Smith and to knock him out during the former WBA super middleweight champion’s career as an amateur or professional fighter. Liverpool’s Smith was knocked down twice during the seventh round, when his trainer, Buddy McGirt, came into the ring and told referee Mike Griffin to stop their 12-round fight for Beterbiev’s IBF, WBC and WBO 175-pound championships.

Dmitry Bivol noticed the size of the ring in which Beterbiev beat Smith (29-2, 21 KOs). He isn’t overly concerned, however, about the footage within the ropes if a deal is finalized for the undefeated light heavyweight champions to finally fight later this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (https://www.boxingscene.com/bob-arum-optimistic-beterbiev-bivol-happen-expects-saudi-arabia-stage-it-summer--180730).

Bivol’s boxing ability and athleticism are considered his advantages over Beterbiev, a good boxer himself, but an undoubtedly more powerful puncher. Russia’s Bivol nevertheless will leave such detail-oriented issues to his handlers – namely manager Vadim Kornilov and promotional representative Eddie Hearn – so that he can concentrate on training to the best of his ability for a 12-round, 175-pound title unification fight that Bivol believes will be the most daunting assignment of his career.  

“You know, to be honest, I’m not thinking about these details,” Bivol told host Jamie Ward during the newest episode of The Matchroom Boxing Podcast, which premiered Sunday on the YouTube channel of Hearn’s promotional company. “If I be in good shape, if I had a good training camp, it doesn’t matter which ring [we use].

“I [can’t] think about these details. I have to think maybe my team, maybe nobody, because in fights if you start thinking about which gloves, which ring, which hotel I should be, it’s too small details, which could disturb me from the main work, you know? And the main work is the training, sparring, mentally preparing for the fight.”

Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) wasn’t surprised that Russia’s Beterbiev beat Smith with such ease, and it had nothing to do with the dimensions of the ring in which they fought.

“Of course I watched the fight,” Bivol said. “And I wasn’t surprised too much, to be honest. And Beterbiev was good, as I expected he [would] be with Smith. And I didn’t see something new. He was powerful, like he was before, and he did his job well.”

The 33-year-old Bivol pointed out, however, that the Montreal-based Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) has flaws that he can exploit in a fight that, unless it results in a draw or no-contest, will crown the first undisputed light heavyweight champion of boxing’s four-belt era. Beterbiev, who turned 39 on Sunday, has been dropped twice during his 10-year professional career – once apiece during eventual knockout victories over American Jeff Page Jr. and England’s Callum Johnson.

“We’re all human,” Bivol, a longtime Russian citizen, said. “We all have weak sides. We all have good sides. And even him, we saw some of the moments which he wasn’t good. I just need to create as much moments as I can [that] are not comfortable for him. … I shouldn’t let him to create some moments which is not comfortable for me. That’s it. It’s easy, to be honest. We don’t need to think about too much. Just do your work, and I have to do my work. And I know I could win if I do my work well.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.