YOU probably weren’t wondering why Callum Smith is called “Mundo.” But we found out anyway.
Smith, as well as winning the British and European titles in his rise, picked up a WBC Diamond title when he beat Erik Skoglund on points over 12 rounds in the quarter-final of the World Boxing Super Series. He has ambitions to win a world title and the Muhammad Ali Trophy at the end of the tournament.
He explains why his fighting nickname is “Mundo.” “My dad called me it when I was a kid. I was obsessed with the Turtles, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There’s Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and my dad used to call me Callemundo, saying you’re the fifth turtle. I had a shell backpack and all that. ‘Callemundo’ and I was made up with it,” he said.
“They started to call me Mundo, the ‘Call’ dropped and it’s just stuck. All the people closest to me as a kid call me it and when I went to boxing gyms, there were people in the gym who knew me as a kid, calling me it and it sort of stuck. When I was turning pro I was stuck for a name and now it’s caught on.”
“But it means ‘world’ in Spanish, which looks like it’s a bit of an omen if I become world champion. It’s not too bad at all,” Smith noted.
He added, “[His brother] Stephen’s little lad Frankie is into the Turtles now so I’ll be watching them with him.”
Don’t miss next week’s issue of Boxing News for a full interview with Callum Smith.
