WBA super middleweight super champion, WBC diamond beltholder, and WBSS Ali cup winner Callum Smith (25-0, 18 KOs) and challenger Hassan N’Dam (37-3, 21 KOs) faced off Wednesday in advance of their showdown on Saturday on the Joshua-Ruiz card at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Promoter Eddie Hearn estimates that around 8,000 Brits will be on hand to cheer on their favorites.
Callum Smith: “I’m excited and I’m looking forward to putting in a big performance. I’ve been out a little longer than I would have liked to be but I want to make up for lost time. I want to get back and remind people how good I am.”
Hassan N’Dam: “This is my first time at this level at super middleweight so I don’t know how I’m going to feel. But I feel good right now.”
Full Quotes
Callum Smith
“I feel good, I feel excited. This is a new chapter of my career. Everything previously was the journey to become a world champion and now I’ve achieve that let’s see what more I can achieve.
“There’s no better place to start my journey as a world champion than Madison Square Garden. It’s such an iconic fight venue with a lot of history. To add my name to a lot of the Brits that have boxed here over the years is going to be special for myself.
“I’m excited and I’m looking forward to putting in a big performance. I’ve been out a little longer than I would have liked to be but I want to make up for lost time. I want to get back and remind people how good I am.
“There is talk of massive names to fight in the future but to secure them fights I’ve got to win this weekend. Big fights excite me and motivate me. I want to maximize my potential and achieve as much as I can. All of that starts on Saturday.
“Hassan is a good fighter, very experienced, a former world champion himself and only the better fighters have beat him. I believe I am the best super middleweight in the world and if that’s true I should beat Hassan, and beat him well, looking good doing it.”
Hassan N’Dam
“Hello everyone. First of all, I would like to thank Eddie Hearn. Thanks to my team for all of the work they do for me. Thanks to my wife and thanks to everyone for being here this morning for this press conference.
“My trainer told me: ‘You tell me every day you want to face the best in the world. Why do you need to think about this? You have an opportunity to fight on a big card at Madison Square Garden. Make your dream come true!’
“He has something that I want. I want to be ‘super’ champion.
“This is my first time at this level at super middleweight so I don’t know how I’m going to feel. But I feel good right now. I think I have experience for this kind of match and this event. Madison Square Garden is somewhere that everyone dreams of fighting at. My experience will be very important to this match.”