By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBA Super World, and WBC Diamond Super Middleweight Champion Callum Smith of Liverpool England will defend his titles for the first time against Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam of Cameroon this Saturday, June 1st. The 12-round bout is on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz heavyweight title tilt and can be seen on Sky Box Office in the UK and on DAZN in North America. Smith won the belts his last time out by stopping George Groves in the seventh round of the World Boxing Super Series Final. N’Dam last fought in December when he beat Martin Murray by a 12-round majority decision for the WBC Silver Middleweight Title.
The 29-year-old Smith has a perfect record of 25-0 along with 18 Kos. He’s 6-feet-3-inches tall with a 78-inch reach so is pretty big for the 168 lb division. He’ll have a three-and-a-half inch height and four-inch reach advantage over N’Dam. Smith had a fine amateur career and was once the British Super Welterweight Champion as an amateur. Since turning pro in 2012 he’s fought 119 rounds, but other than Groves, he hasn’t taken on anybody who resembles a Grade A boxer and N’Dam also falls just short of that category.
Smith has also beaten the likes of Nieky Holzken, Erik Skoglund, Luke Blackledge, Norbert Nemesapati, Cesar Hernan Reynoso, Rocky Fielding and Christopher Rebrasse etc. He has displayed pretty good power up to now with a current knockout ratio of 72 per cent but his lack of quality opponents may slightly hurt his chances against N’Dam. He’s got size on his side though and if he uses it to his advantage he’ll definitely fare a bit better. Smith has also been an English, British, European, WBC International and WBC Silver Champions since turning pro.
The 35-year-old N’Dam, who now fights out of Monaco, is a former WBA Middleweight Champion. He won the vacant title with a controversial split decision over Ryo Murata in Japan in May, 2017 and
lost it to Murata by a seventh round stoppage in their rematch five months later in Japan. Two of the judges were suspended after the first bout for six months and the WBA ordered the rematch in which N’Dam was stopped. N’Dam is a former two-time Olympian and will climb into the ring with a record of 37-3 along with 21 Kos.
He has also lost by unanimous decisions to former world champs David Lemieux and Peter Quillin by unanimous decisions in June of 2015 and October of 2012 respectively. The bout against Quillin was for the WBO Title and N’Dam was dropped six times in that fight. He has good mobility and is adept defensively though while his attack is typically set up with his stiff jab. N’Dam has good power but his chin is obviously a question mark as he’s been on the canvas several times. He’s not known as a one-punch knockout artist though and his current knockout ratio stands at 53 per cent.
He turned pro back in 2004 and has fought 268 rounds since then. N’Dam stands just over 5-feet-11-inches tall and has a reach of 74 inches. N’Dam seems to be content to let his boxing skills carry him to victory and doesn’t usually go looking for stoppages. His biggest wins so far have been against Murray, Murata, Curtis Stevens, Fulgencio Zuniga, Alfonso Blanco, Patrick Mendy and Max Bursak. However, he’s fought the majority of his career as a middleweight rather than super middleweight.
Prediction…
Both N’Dam and Smith are pretty tough and durable boxers with Smith having a bit better chin and more power. It looked like N’Dam’s career might be over after being stopped by Murata but he bounced back with a good showing against Murray. This should be a competitive fight and N’Dam has more experience against top-class opposition. Smith is bigger and younger though with more power and should be able to retain his titles.
