Callum Smith: Liverpool fighter confident of dethroning knockout machine Artur Beterbiev in Canada

Callum Smith says the "best version of himself" beats Artur Beterbiev as he bids to become a two-weight world champion on Saturday in Canada.

Liverpool's Smith faces undefeated unified light-heavyweight champion Beterbiev, who has a 100% knockout rate in his career.

Smith, 33, is an underdog against Beterbiev on away soil and says the champion's power is not on his mind.

"The best version of me beats anyone in the world," Smith said.

"I fully stand by that. The time's now. I'm ready to become a two-division world champion."

Smith was previously a world champion at super-middleweight and the only defeat on his record is to multiple weight world champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.

Russian Beterbiev, 38, holds the IBF, WBC and WBO titles and has 19 stoppages on his record, including seven clean knockouts.

One of those stoppages came against Briton Anthony Yarde a year ago in an epic shootout in London which saw Beterbiev turn around a gruelling fight to produce an eighth-round stoppage.

At a news conference on Thursday, Smith's trainer Buddy McGirt said they weren't "stupid" and were prepared for Beterbiev's power.

The news conference was held in English and French-Canadian in Quebec, although neither Smith or Beterbiev speak French-Canadian.

Beterbiev has made Quebec his home since leaving Russia and is also a Canadian citizen.

He offered little at the news conference, mumbling prayers under his breath as it went on.

When he did speak, it was only to say he was "OK" after injury forced him to withdraw from his fight against Smith in August.

Should he win on Saturday, it will be 20th professional win and he is expected to try and make an undisputed fight against WBA (Super) champion Dmitry Bivol.

A bout between the two champions never materialised last year in what would be the first light-heavyweight undisputed championship fight in the four-belt era.

Asked what was next should he beat Smith, Beterbiev replied: "Ask me after fight, please."

'Monster' is the word routinely used to describe Beterbiev. It was thrown around in the weeks before his fight against Yarde and again when he overcame a brilliant performance from the challenger to produce his 19th straight knockout.

But as Smith has been at pains to point out this week, Beterbiev has been dropped in fights before - Callum Johnson managed it - and turns 39 next week.

The champion is not infallible, but is also far from a one-dimensional knockout artist either. An aggressive, fearless attacking style is perfectly complimented by his extraordinary feet and technical ability.

Smith has fallen short in many of his big fights, most notably against Alvarez and domestic rival John Ryder, a fight many felt was a clear win for Ryder despite the scorecards going the other way.

A move to light-heavyweight has yielded two wins for Smith and now he is thrown in the deep end after a 16-month lay-off against the division's most feared champion on as close to his home turf as Beterbiev can hope for.

Does Smith have the tools to beat Beterbiev? It is unlikely he will adopt the backfoot sniper approach Yarde, a massive puncher himself, did.

Smith has his brothers Liam, Paul and Stephen with him in Canada for moral support and will surely need a career-best performance to dethrone Beterbiev.