Eddie Hearn wants Callum Smith to be active and prove that he’s the best super-middleweight in the world sooner rather than later.
The Matchroom head honcho was ringside in New York on Saturday to witness the Scouser’s destruction of Hassan N’Dam inside three rounds.
Smith took on his former sparring partner at Madison Square Garden, knocking him down three times at Madison Square Garden, as part of the supporting cast to Anthony Joshua’s unsuccessful defence of his WBA Super, WBO, IBF and IBO world heavyweight titles against Andy Ruiz.
And after Smith’s scintillating showing in which he retained his WBC Diamond, WBA Super and Ring Magazine belts, Hearn wants to make him the biggest star in the division by delivering him the biggest fights at the weight.
“I think the super-fight is ‘Canelo’,” he said. “Joe Gallagher, Smith’s trainer and manager, tells me that fight has to happen at Anfield, but it could take place at Wembley.
“It was a great performance from him and now we want him to be nice and active now. He’ll be back in September from now and I would like to box him three times this year.”
A date in September is being eyed for Callum’s return at the M & S Bank Arena in the city and further details regarding the card will be revealed in due course before a December date for ‘Mundo’s’ final fight of 2019.
“Of course, he’s going to want the big fights, the mega-fights, but that was a nice fight for him to come back to, to announce yourself to the big stage on American television,” Hearn added. “But they’ve made it clear that ‘Canelo’ is the fight that they want and we’ll have to see what happens in September.”
The fight started with a left hook in the opener and there were droppings of the challenger in every session before the referee had seen enough and called a halt to the contest after the third knockdown, which was caused by a right hand, at two minutes and 56 seconds of the round.
N’Dam, who was going into the fight on the back of last December’s win over Martin Murray, was placed on the back foot by Smith from the very start.
“It felt good in there. It’s good to be back in there and tonight was all about the performance even though I had a few nerves going in,” said Smith.
“I want to stay active, I want to keep winning and I want to prove that I’m the best super-middleweight in the world which I believe I am.
“This is a special night for me in my career and the plan now is to prove that I’m the best in the world by testing myself. I think you’ll start seeing the best of me when I fight better fighters. I’ve managed to achieve a lot having a pretty easy career.
“I’ve not had a gut-check just yet and to be honest, I don’t really want one, but there’s plenty for me to get at and that’s the plan.”
Callum was chief support on his Madison Square Garden debut to Anthony Joshua's shock defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr.
Ruiz floored Joshua four times en route to a seventh-round stoppage to hand the Briton his first defeat as a professional.
Joshua was a 1-25 favourite with bookmakers, with 22 wins - 21 by knockout - going into the fight. He will now join the likes of Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson as dominant champions to suffer losses which brought the sport to a standstill.
"I got beaten by a good fighter," said 29-year-old Joshua on Sky Sports. "It will be interesting to see how far he goes, but this is all part of the journey.
"He's a champion for now, I shall return."
After flooring Ruiz with a left hook in the third round, Joshua hit the canvas when a right crashed against his temple. By the time a sensational three minutes was up he had been down again thanks to a flurry when cornered.
By the seventh round, when Joshua touched down under a flurry of shots again, the game looked up. Seconds later he was down on all fours again and the bout was waved off.
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