GRADES: ARTUR BETERBIEV, CALLUM SMITH, CHRISTIAN MBILLI, JASON MOLONEY & MORE

By: Jay Calderon

So, Artur Beterbiev secured another stoppage win to start off the year. What else is new?

Beterbiev, now 20-0 with stoppages in all professional bouts, made fairly easy work of Callum Smith in Canada, defending his 175 pound gold and potentially setting up an undisputed showdown with Dmitry Bivol.

On the undercard, Super Middleweight titlist Christian Mbilli stopped Rohan Murdock in a brutal performance and Bantamweight titlist Jason Moloney narrowly defeated Saul Sanchez.

So, without much more ado, let's hand out these Grades:

ARTUR BETERBIEV
GRADES: A+
RESULT: DEF. CALLUM SMITH, 7TKO (LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT)
To put it simply: Artur Beterbiev put forth a near perfect performance against Callum Smith on Saturday.

Now, to be clear, it's not as though Smith is an all-time great, or someone that has ever completely thrived at the very top level. That said, he'd never been dropped or stopped, amateur or pro, before Beterbiev.

Keep in mind, Smith has faced the likes of George Groves and Canelo Alvarez, so he isn't a slouch. Win or lose, Smith always competed or at least survived. Against Beterbiev, Callum wasn't allowed such a luxury.

Beterbiev, a fighter that has been downed in the past, remained composed, set up his work, and punished Smith for much of the encounter. Artur didn't allow for any previous mistakes, instead fighting with an intelligent rage many offensive-minded fighters lack.

One of the better performances of the 38-year-old's career.

CALLUM SMITH
GRADES: C
RESULT: LOSS TO ARTUR BETERBIEV, 7TKO (LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT)
As unfortunate as it is to say about a fighter that seems to have many of the tools needed to succeed, Callum Smith simply isn't on the elite level in the sport of boxing.

And against most fighters, that's not an issue. He's rangy, has solid power, and a usually durable chin. Smith is going to beat most fighters he faces. However, Beterbiev isn't most fighters.

While Smith tried to come up with answers, tried to push forward with some resistance, try is all he could muster. Beterbiev never seemed fazed, or even hardly concerned with anything coming his way.

Smith still has some solid options available to him in boxing, especially in some domestic match ups with the likes of Anthony Yarde or Chris Eubank. However, Light-Heavyweight is a tough division at the moment to thrive in when considering the talent of the champions.

In any event, decent enough grade for just about the best effort you could expect from Smith.

CHRISTIAN MBILLI
GRADE: B+
RESULT: ROHAN MURDOCK, 6TKO (SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT)
Christian Mbilli isn't always going to be pretty in there, but that's by design. And against Rohan Murdock, we saw just that from the Canadian by way of Cameroon. Mbilli will get rough, will look to attack, and will be mostly effective.

Mbilli can be tagged, and he was against Murdock. Again, that's to be expected when you're coming forward with so much intent. Still, one gets the sense that Mbilli's success will be based largely on how well he is matched.

Against a more skilled, nuanced fighter between 168-175 pounds, someone like a Dmitry Bivol, Mbilli might have many of his flaws brought to light. He will be too wide open, he will be tagged -- and he has been hurt in the past.

However, you put him in with someone more willing to engage, and Mbilli will always have a chance to be successful. And he will keep it exciting while it lasts.

Mbilli isn't a completely one dimensional fighter. No, he has a bit more wrinkles to his game than that. Nonetheless, what he prefers to do is obvious: Mbilli wants to come forward and fight.

That will likely work against 90-95% of the division. However, he might struggle with the very elite. Either way, he will try his damnest to make it fun while it lasts.

JASON MOLONEY
GRADE: B
RESULT: DEF. SAUL SANCHEZ, 12MD (BANTAMWEIGHT)
Jason Moloney maybe escaped with one against Saul Sanchez.

Moloney has likely beaten fighters at a similar level to that of Sanchez in the past. Maybe, what Jason learned is that you get the best of every fighter you face when they feel they are one punch away from winning world gold and changing their lives forever.

Or, maybe Moloney is just one of those tweener fighters that will always be in tougher fights. He's not a KO puncher, but isn't technically savvy enough to stay clean and untouched all night. So, fighters with a decent chin and some heart will always be live against Moloney.

Regardless, Moloney used his experience and some tricks of the trade to steal rounds and do a bit more in the closing frames. With two cards reading 116-112, that means all it took was a few close rounds swinging Moloney's way to make the difference.

With some solid talent at 118 pounds, this might catch up with Moloney over time. However, on the night, Jason probably did just enough to earn a close nod.

SAUL SANCHEZ
GRADE: B-
RESULT: LOSS TO JASON MOLONEY, 12MD (BANTAMWEIGHT)
Maybe Saul Sanchez needed more experience, more time in against better fighters. Maybe he just needed a bit more skill or ring expertise in this area or that department. Regardless, Sanchez seemed to be just a bit short against Jason Moloney.

Sanchez had moments for sure, even landed more consistently at times. For stretches, Saul seemed to boss his man around. But he just didn't have the wherewithal to step on the gas when he might have needed to most.

Moloney knew when and where -- and how -- to step it up and do enough to take close rounds and, ultimately, a close fight.

This can be a learning fight for Sanchez, where he picks that sort of information up. Going forward, that might be his silver lining. Unfortunately, it may have taken letting a world title slip away to teach Sanchez that lesson.

LINKS:

- SCHEDULE & ODDS

- RESULTS

-