Callum Smith didn’t exactly excite, but he controlled his late notice opponent with his jab to advance to the World Boxing Super Series finals to hopefully meet George Groves for his WBA super middleweight title. The tournament final is tentatively scheduled for June 2nd.
Callum Smith (24-0, 17 KOs) did what he needed to do tonight in Germany to comfortably advance to the World Boxing Super Series finals. Through four rounds he used his jab nonstop with the occasional power shot behind it while Nieky Holzken (14-1, 10 KOs) plowed forward. Usually about once a round Holzken would succeed in moving him into the ropes to unleash a powerful looking barrage of hooks, but few landed clean.
The elite Dutch kickboxer did unexpectedly have a great fifth round, however. He landed a really big right hand over a lazy Smith left that seemed to bother Callum a little. Holzken stayed on the attack and took the round comfortably. It wasn’t a true turning point though. Callum Smith was back on his professional jab in the sixth and went on to win the rest of the rounds on my scorecard as well, largely behind that one punch.
I will say that Nieky Holzken did show some ability at the world level of boxing. It’s not enough to win, but maybe he can figure it out just yet. He is clearly a physically talented and tough fighter. Here and there he would really surprise Callum with his power and quickness. Raw physical ability cannot trump years of pro boxing training and pedigree, but it at least kept him relatively competitive while losing rounds. For five days notice, I’d say he acquitted himself well.
Callum Smith now moves on to meet George Groves in the finals on June 2nd. Hopefully he does, anyway, as Groves did suffer some sort of shoulder injury in his win over Chris Eubank Jr last weekend. Here is to that healing in time as Groves v Smith is an excellent way to cap off the tournament.
