On October 6, 2018, a 33-year-old Callum Johnson (17-0, 12 KOs) got a shot at the light-heavyweight IBF title held by 33-year-old Russian boxer Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs).
Johnson came in to the fight on a 17-fight win streak with a 70% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 6 months and 12 days. Beterbiev was on a 12-fight win streak with a 100% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 10 months and 25 days.
Artur Beterbiev stopped Callum Johnson via KO in the 4th round of the 12-round world-title fight, and successfully defended his IBF light-heavyweight title. Beterbiev improves his record to 13-0 (13 KOs), while Johnson adds a loss to his record at 17-1.