Why did Callum Smith have 'Autism' written on his shorts against Artur Beterbiev? The reason behind awareness explained

Callum Smith’s ‘autism’ printed shorts generated a lot of curiosity among boxing fans as he went up against Artur Beterbiev on Jan. 13. The Englishman talked about the noble reason for printing the word on his shorts a few years ago.

Smith and his brothers, Paul, Stephen, and Liam, are all world-class boxers and they wear the ‘autism’ shorts to raise awareness about the condition. The former super-middleweight champion’s younger sister Hollie was diagnosed with the condition when she was two years old.

Smith told ESPN that his family was largely unaware of the condition at the time. Being a championship-caliber boxer, the 33-year-old has a lot of eyeballs on him. He decided to use his reach and print the word ‘autism’ on his shorts to support other families while creating awareness about this neurological and developmental disorder.

"We're helping to do our part, we raise money for autistic schools. It's a full-time job for my mum and dad. She's unbelievable but there are good days and bad days. Some days she laughs and is smiling, but others she's hard work and doesn't sleep through the night. It's tough for my mum and dad then and a lot of other families go through something similar." [H/T ESPN]

The former super-middleweight champion said that his sister Hollie does not like to see her brothers exchange blows and will be happy when he decides to call it a career.

In his most recent outing, Smith challenged the WBC, IBF, and WBO light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev. The Englishman gave his best effort in the 12-round contest. However, Beterbiev proved to be the better man on the night and won the fight via seventh-round knockout.

The loss marked Callum Smith’s second defeat in title fights. Previously, he lost the WBA and The Ring super-middleweight titles against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in 2020. Smith has never lost a non-title fight in his professional boxing career.