Callum Smith and Joshua Buatsi will square off in a meaningful WBO interim light heavyweight title matchup on February 22 in Saudi Arabia on the same card headlined by the undisputed light heavyweight title rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

The winner between Smith (30-2, 22 KOs) and Buatsi (19-0, 13 KOs) would join David Benavidez in perhaps one day getting a crack at the real 175-pound crown.

“Buatsi is a good fighter. He's in a good position. He has the WBO interim title, so he has something that I'd like. It's definitely a fight that makes sense for me,” Smith said on DAZN’s “On the Ground” series.

“As a fighter, he's done nothing wrong so far. He’s undefeated, so it's hard to really give him any criticism. I think he's taken a little bit longer to get where he is than what people would have expected as an Olympic bronze medalist in 2016. But he's gotten to where he needs to be. He's in the same position as me and wants to be a world champion. It’s a good fight. We both want the same thing.”

Smith, 34, became a 168-pound Ring and WBA champion in 2018 by knocking out George Groves in the World Boxing Super Series final. Smith is 3-1 as a light heavyweight since moving up after losing his super middleweight titles to Canelo Alvarez via unanimous decision in 2020. Smith has already gotten an opportunity to become a 175-pound champion as well but fell short last year, getting stopped inside seven rounds to Beterbiev. In November, Smith scored a stay-busy knockout win against journeyman Carlos Galvan in a scheduled eight-rounder.

Buatsi, 31, hasn’t had the same exposure on the big stage. In his last fight in September, he scored the WBO interim title with a split decision win against Willy Hutchinson.

“It's a good fight. It's one that motivates me. It's one that I am excited for,” said Smith. “It's a massive show and it's an honor to be a part of it. I want to go in there and make a statement and put myself back in a position of where I want to be.”

“The Last Crescendo” has been labeled as the greatest night of fights in boxing history. Other bouts on the night include Daniel Dubois vs. Joseph Parker, Shakur Stevenson vs. Floyd Schofield Jr., Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Israil Madrimov, Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz, and Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel.