David Benavidez has no shortage of HUGE fights on his radar. In an exclusive interview with BoxingScene, Jose Benavidez Sr. makes it clear that David still wants the biggest names at 175lbs including Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. Benavidez has previously said those are two fights he wants to make as he pursues more titles and major challenges. But there’s another name that could make things very interesting: Andy Ruiz Jr. Jose discusses the possibility of an all-Mexican showdown between Benavidez and the former heavyweight champion, along with David’s plans across multiple divisions. And with a potential Jai Opetaia showdown also building after the pair came face-to-face following Opetaia’s latest victory, Benavidez has some massive options ahead.
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Joe Smith Jr. expects to be much more impressive during his first title defense Saturday night than he was when he won the then-vacant WBO light heavyweight title nine months ago.
Smith overcame Maxim Vlasov by majority decision to become one of boxing’s 175-pound champions, yet Smith admits it was far from his best performance. The Mastic, New York, native was much sharper in his prior appearance, a ninth-round stoppage of former WBO champ Eleider Alvarez in August 2020.
“In that fight [against Vlasov], I feel I was hesitant a little too much to throw,” Smith told BoxingScene.com. “There were certain little things that I wasn’t happy with. What I’m happy about what I did was when it came to rounds 10, 11, 12, I really picked it up and came out on top.”
Judges Gerald Ritter (115-112) and Pat Russell (115-113) scored Smith a winner over Vlasov (46-4, 26 KOs). Judge David Sutherland scored Smith-Vlasov a draw, 114-114, on April 10 at Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Smith (27-3, 21 KOs) can’t quite pinpoint why he underperformed versus Vlasov. He suspects knowing that he couldn’t afford to lose a second championship match in two years contributed to how he fought.
“I don’t know,” Smith said. “Maybe I felt I was under a lot of pressure because it was my second shot at a world title, and I knew I needed to win that fight. I don’t really know. I just know I got back in the gym and worked on being sharper and getting off and moving and doing everything I can do to make me a better fighter.”
The 32-year-old Smith was supposed to square off against England’s Callum Johnson on Saturday night. Steve Geffrard (18-2, 12 KOs), an unknown veteran from Boca Raton, Florida, replaced Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs) on eight days’ notice because Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 and pulled out of his fight with Smith last week.
“I’m looking to put on a great show,” Smith said, “and make the big fights happen after that.”
Johnson was a substitute for Russia’s Umar Salamov (26-2, 19 KOs), who was supposed to challenge Smith on October 30 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York. Smith contracted COVID-19 in mid-September, though, spent two nights in a hospital and battled the coronavirus for approximately three weeks altogether.
Smith couldn’t reschedule his fight with Salamov because Salamov couldn’t get a visa to travel to the United States.
“What bothered me the most was I was two or three weeks into training, and just started to feel great,” Smith said. “And then my fight got canceled because of getting [COVID-19]. It set me back. I could’ve been focusing on my next fight by now, figuring where I’m gonna go next. But I’m not doing that. I’m still in the same spot I was, but I’m actually fighting a different guy this time.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
