By Jake Donovan
In a year where boxing often disappointed - and at times outright betrayed - its audience, the emergence of Joe Smith Jr, was a breath of fresh air.
There is no guarantee that he goes on to become a world champion or even a serious threat at the title level, but he did the opposite of most of his peers in taking full advantage of the opportunities provided to him. The manner in which he burst upon the scene and how he managed to remain highly relevant is the makings of boxing's feel-good story of 2016.
In a strange sense, the writing was on the wall around this team one year ago. However, his minor upset of fellow blue collar New York light heavyweight Will Rosinsky flew well under the radar, thus keeping Smith Jr. (26-1, 19KOs) at the fringe contender level and an afterthought for the most part.
All of that changed in a very big way in a manner of just 12 months and three fights.
A proud working man from the Mastic/Shirley region of Long Island, New York, Smith Jr. – who spends his days digging ditches and working a jack hammer – developed a fan base in his home region. The 27-year old boxer signed with Bronx-based promotional outfit Star Boxing Inc. in 2014, a move that made the most sense for his career at the time given its regular boxing series at The Paramount in Huntington, Long Island roughly 45 minutes from his home.
The series gained notoriety through the development of Chris Algieri, another Long Island boxer who worked a full-time job outside of the sport before making it big in the industry. The charismatic super lightweight became just the second Long Island-bred boxer to win a world title, coming around the time Smith Jr. decided that scene would be the perfect for his career.
After all, despite being five years into his pro career there still existed the need to further hone his craft. Smith Jr. began boxing at age 13, winning four NY Metro titles and three each at the Junior Olympics and Empire State Games. Still, he only boasted roughly 50 amateur fights, most of which took place in his home state.
The same held true in his boxing career, having never fought outside of the Northeastern U.S. region until 2016. In fact, all bouts save for a 2012 trip to neighboring Connecticut took place in New York, and he’d already suffered his first loss by the time he signed with Star Boxing.
It only added to the belief that he was in way over his head when summoned to face then-top rated light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara this past June. The biggest moment of his pro career meant not just hitting the road, but traveling to Chicago where Fonfara – a native of Poland – now lives and trains and has become a sizeable draw.
The truth is that the bout could have taken place anywhere in the world and Smith still would have been a massive underdog. It still would have carried the same pre-fight criticism from many in the media, several of which declared it going in as a gross mismatch that had no business taking place, never mind airing live in prime time on free-to-air NBC.
Funny enough the bout turned out to be a mismatch – just in the exact opposite direction as was figured to be the case.
Smith Jr. looked to be in over his head when the opening bell sounded, as Fonfara immediately went on the attack. Perhaps the veteran contender believed the pre-fight press clippings and figured his opponent for a sitting duck. Whatever the case, he came out swinging punches without a care in the world, confident that the fight would end in an early knockout.
It did, but not how he imagined it. Instead, it was Smith Jr. delivering the crushing blow, an overhand fight that dropped his heavily favored opponent hard and functionally ended the fight. Fonfara made it to his feet but was wobbly enough to where a stiff wind could have provided the next fall. Smith Jr. seized the moment, unloading and sending the Polish boxer back to the canvas in registering what remains the leading contender for 2016 Upset of the Year.
The pre-Father’s Day result on its own would’ve served as boxing’s feel good story of the year. But Smith Jr. wasn’t done yet; not even close.
His feat caught the eye of Bernard Hopkins, a 51-year old living legend who – despite having not fought since a landslide loss to Sergey Kovalev in Nov. ’14 – wasn’t quite done with the sport just yet. The former world champion at middleweight and light heavyweight wanted one final swan song, a vision that began with a targeted shot at a super middleweight champion – namely Arthur Abraham, who instead went on to face and lose to Gilberto Ramirez earlier this year.
Rather than remain affixed on capturing a world title in a third weight class, Hopkins instead settled for a bout that HBO would bill as “The Final 1”. With that came some wiggle room to not have to seek out a reigning champion or even a top contender for the headlining act at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Enter Smith Jr. into the equation, whose aforementioned win over Fonfara was just enough to make him the perfect candidate.
Once again though, just not the sense envisioned by those involved in putting together the bout.
This time around, Smith Jr. entered as just a modest underdog, given a puncher’s chance as Hopkins was not just entering on the heels of a two-plus year layoff but was also one month shy of his 52nd birthday.
Nobody believed the grey beard could match the energy and activity of his 27-year old opponent, who wasn’t even yet born when Hopkins began his career in 1988. But there was the rationale – or perhaps just the clever sales pitch – that the wily veteran had enough tricks left in him to frustrate and outmaul the young upstart and end his career on a high note.
He instead ended it flat on his back and out of the ring. That location was where Smith Jr. sent Hopkins tumbling in the early moments of the 8th round of their HBO-televised main event. A six-punch combination had Hopkins hurt to the point of literally out on his feet, as he was sent flying through the ropes and onto the floor outside the ring apron. He hit the ground head first before slowly attempting to climb off his back and onto his reportedly injured ankle as referee Jack Reiss reached the count of 20 – with ten seconds added to a mandatory knockdown count when a fighter exits the ring.
Smith Jr was up on two of the three scorecards at the time of the stoppage, but clearly wasn’t interested in just winning a decision. It was a good thing that he carried that mindset, as veteran ring official Pat Russell – who stepped down as a referee last year and now just serves as a judge and member of the California State Athletic Commission – somehow had Hopkins ahead.
Ultimately, it was Smith’s fists that were the deciding factor and which did all of the talking. He allowed Hopkins and his pending retirement to dominate the pre-fight coverage, looking bored at times and perhaps a bit ticked off that he was viewed not just as an afterthought but as anonymous as his common every day name.
To his credit, Smith Jr. never made any bones about it. He reserved his energy and focus for the task at hand, which was to follow up with his career-breakout win over Fonfara with a career-best performance versus Hopkins.
Fittingly, his extravagant celebration plans in the aftermath included his proudly returning to full-time job in Long Island that Monday morning. Success may change some people, but the fighting proud working man remembers what got him here.
His life story was just six months ago figured to serve as background fill in the title aspirations of another boxer. Instead, his incredible journey in the ring over the past 12 months and his endearment to the working class became the feel good story that boxing so desperately needed in 2016.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox_v2
