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By Doveed Linder
On May 21st, veteran World Class referee Steve Smoger was the third man in the ring for the Denis Lebedev-Roy Jones, Jr. cruiserweight bout. This might very well be the last high profile fight for future Hall of Famer Roy Jones, Jr., as he lost via brutal knockout in the 10th round, which marks the fourth time in his career that he has been stopped inside the distance. It’s sort of ironic that Steve Smoger happened to be working this particular fight, because he was also the referee for Jones’s very first major professional fight when he faced and defeated Bernard Hopkins back in 1993. In this interview (which is exclusive to **********), Smoger talks about the Lebedev-Jones fight, his history with Roy Jones, Jr. and Bernard Hopkins, and more.
DL: Give me a breakdown of the Denis Lebedev-Roy Jones, Jr. fight from your standpoint.
SS: First of all, it was a pleasure to work in that atmosphere. 4,000, close to 4,500 people were there at the weigh-in, which was at a very fine modern mall. You would not think you were in Moscow. You would think you were in America. Five story affair, spiral staircases, Starbucks… But it’s what boxing was back in the day. There was no title at stake, but it had a very, very big time atmosphere. They billed it “Clash of the Empires”. Now, Mr. Lebedev is essentially undefeated. Most people feel he won that fight with Marco Huck, so he could be considered one of the top cruiserweights in the division. So I immediately gave a lot of credit to Roy for involving himself with this type of event against such a formidable opponent at this stage of his career.
Now, the fight itself… Packed house. 7,000 people. They were chagrined that they didn’t get a bigger stadium, because they could have sold more tickets. This was a very, very nice arena sold to capacity. Now, when they took off their robes for instruction… The physique of Lebedev… It was incredible. I didn’t pay much attention at the weigh-in. But he seemed to be a much bigger 200 pounds than Roy was at 197. Very, very thick upper body. And Roy looked terrific. He looked in great shape, verbally sharp. No problems. We fought under ABC, so all the rules were the same. The only difference is that the Russian rules require an immediate replacement of mouthpieces, which can sometimes disrupt the flow if there’s a fighter who’s advancing and you have to break the action to reinsert. But there was no loss of mouthpieces. That was just my concern as the referee.
Roy boxed. Good combinations and he stunned Lebedev on several occasions. But in my view, they (Team Jones) underestimated Lebedev’s jab. He jabbed very, very well. If Roy stopped for a second, Lebedev was right on him with an assault. And from what I saw, everything that he threw hurt Roy in some capacity. And Roy got the hell out of there. Now, on two occasions, Roy lowered his head with his fists up by his ears and then he would come back and stun Lebedev with a left or right hook. He would surprise him with right hands while dancing. Lebedev was only hurt once and it was momentary. Maybe twice. But Roy was hit with a lot of shots that he never would have been hit with in his youth. No question.
Now, the difficult part… Towards the end of the last round, Roy is circling and he circles into a neutral corner. I position myself to the side and he seems to be parrying the punches and then there’s a very significant flurry by Lebedev. Roy is down in a semi-crouch and he gets hit with a right uppercut. Now, I want you to grasp this. This is not Pavlik-Taylor I where I could see that he’s out. He was in a defensive posture. His hands were never down, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. His senses were such that he could still keep his hands up. I saw the delivery of a significant shot. It was a short right hook. And after the delivery of that punch I jumped in.
People have asked me, why the last shot? Why didn’t you go in? But see, there are two sides to the coin. Imagine if I had stopped it and he was just playing possum. There would have been a firestorm! This wasn’t Chavez-Taylor, because I didn’t have eye contact with him. I couldn’t see his face. And up until that point, it’s a competitive round. He was in a defensive posture and I was on his left. And when Lebedev delivered that last shot, I stepped in. He was out from the uppercut, but I couldn’t see it. His hands were up. He’s on his feet. The ropes weren’t holding him up. And that’s the same posture he was in when he landed his two best punches of the fight. Hands up with the rabbit ears, and he fires out of it, surprising everyone.
After the fight, Roy came up to me and said, “Steve, can you believe he got me with one second to go?” And I didn’t say anything. I just smiled, because I was relieved that he was up and walking again. His team thanked me afterward. Lebedev did as well. He was very gracious afterwards. His promoter thanked me too. And that’s the story in Moscow. But I want it to be noted that I give Roy tremendous credit for taking this kind of fight. In February of this year, I worked the Steve Herelius-Yoan Pablo Hernandez fight. Steve Cunningham was on the card as well. It was the night of the cruiserweights. Herelius was the WBA cruiserweight champion and Hernandez knocked him out in the 7th round. Point being, that having worked with some of the top cruiserweights and having seen Steve Cunningham, I think Lebedev is right up there with them. He’s a tough, strong guy and I give Roy all the credit in the world for taking the fight at this point in his career. And when he was younger, I think he would have destroyed him.
DL: Another fighter who happens to be in his 40’s fought that very same night you worked the Roy Jones fight. And of course, that’s Bernard Hopkins, who made history by becoming the oldest man ever to win a world title by defeating Jean Pascal for his light heavyweight title. And it’s funny, because you were the referee of the first fight between Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins back in 1993. Could you ever have imagined that almost twenty years later that these two would still be fighting?
SS: No, I could not. And Roy and I discussed our history. The Roy Jones-Bernard Hopkins fight was May 20, 1993 on the 50 yard line on what was then known as RFK Stadium. Everyone thought it was going to be the fight of the decade. Bernard was once-beaten and Roy was unbeaten and it was for the IBF middleweight championship of the world. It was tagged as the show-stealer with the feature being Rid**** Bowe vs Jesse Ferguson. And I think Rid**** stopped Jesse in the 2nd round. So all eyes were pointed at my fight. And in my view, it was somewhat of a letdown in that I believe Bernard caught Roy early with a significant shot. It seemed Roy decided that instead of engaging, he’ll just box. He beat Bernard by a decision, but it never had the fireworks that the press and the boxing media thought would occur. Roy and I discussed that fight and it turns out that this fight (Jones-Lebedev) was originally scheduled for May 20th, which means it would have been eighteen years to the day. And that was the last time I worked with him. So I said to him before the fight, “It took me eighteen years to get you in the ring, Mr. Jones!” And he laughed and hugged me. I had given him instructions before the fight and I signed his wraps and we had a laugh.
DL: When was the last time you spoke with Bernard Hopkins?
SS: Last time we spoke, he was walking out to take Kelly Pavlik to school. I was on the undercard. And I wished him well and he said, “Watch me tonight, Steve.” That’s the last time.
DL: So switching gears, one fight you worked this year was between two undefeated super bantamweights, which was Teon Kennedy vs Jorge Diaz (Kennedy won via UD). And from what I understand, it was an absolute war.
SS: Yes, it was. It was the show-stealer. It was an HBO card on the undercard of Gamboa-Solis. We were responsible basically for the attendance because we had a lot of Philly fans (Kennedy’s hometown) and a lot of North Jersey fans (Diaz’s hometown). At first, I was very, very impressed with Kennedy’s ability to withstand Jorge’s early barrage. But I believe Kennedy severely hurt him in either three or four. It was one significant punch away from a stoppage. The impression it left me was the ability of Jorge coming on, even though he had lost a lot of his drive. It was mostly instinct. I was very impressed and he was even able to rally. And I was glad that I exercised significant discretion to allow him to go on, because he went nine more rounds. And Kennedy really fought well and did a hell of a job.
DL: Another fight you worked this year was a middleweight bout between Andy Lee and Craig McEwan (Lee won via 10th round KO). What’s your take on that fight?
SS: McEwan was a late sub and it was a surprise that he did as well as he did. When it was first made, it was supposed to be the “Battle of Ireland.” The original opponent was John Duddy. When I received the assignment, I was told by the excellent commissioner of Foxwoods Peter Timothy that he thought I fit the fight very, very well (because Smoger is Irish). I had worked with Duddy before, but I don’t believe I ever worked with Andy Lee. Long and short, when they came up with Craig McEwan, he was sort of a question mark, because I don’t think he had any major bouts on his resume.
On May 21st, veteran World Class referee Steve Smoger was the third man in the ring for the Denis Lebedev-Roy Jones, Jr. cruiserweight bout. This might very well be the last high profile fight for future Hall of Famer Roy Jones, Jr., as he lost via brutal knockout in the 10th round, which marks the fourth time in his career that he has been stopped inside the distance. It’s sort of ironic that Steve Smoger happened to be working this particular fight, because he was also the referee for Jones’s very first major professional fight when he faced and defeated Bernard Hopkins back in 1993. In this interview (which is exclusive to **********), Smoger talks about the Lebedev-Jones fight, his history with Roy Jones, Jr. and Bernard Hopkins, and more.
DL: Give me a breakdown of the Denis Lebedev-Roy Jones, Jr. fight from your standpoint.
SS: First of all, it was a pleasure to work in that atmosphere. 4,000, close to 4,500 people were there at the weigh-in, which was at a very fine modern mall. You would not think you were in Moscow. You would think you were in America. Five story affair, spiral staircases, Starbucks… But it’s what boxing was back in the day. There was no title at stake, but it had a very, very big time atmosphere. They billed it “Clash of the Empires”. Now, Mr. Lebedev is essentially undefeated. Most people feel he won that fight with Marco Huck, so he could be considered one of the top cruiserweights in the division. So I immediately gave a lot of credit to Roy for involving himself with this type of event against such a formidable opponent at this stage of his career.
Now, the fight itself… Packed house. 7,000 people. They were chagrined that they didn’t get a bigger stadium, because they could have sold more tickets. This was a very, very nice arena sold to capacity. Now, when they took off their robes for instruction… The physique of Lebedev… It was incredible. I didn’t pay much attention at the weigh-in. But he seemed to be a much bigger 200 pounds than Roy was at 197. Very, very thick upper body. And Roy looked terrific. He looked in great shape, verbally sharp. No problems. We fought under ABC, so all the rules were the same. The only difference is that the Russian rules require an immediate replacement of mouthpieces, which can sometimes disrupt the flow if there’s a fighter who’s advancing and you have to break the action to reinsert. But there was no loss of mouthpieces. That was just my concern as the referee.
Roy boxed. Good combinations and he stunned Lebedev on several occasions. But in my view, they (Team Jones) underestimated Lebedev’s jab. He jabbed very, very well. If Roy stopped for a second, Lebedev was right on him with an assault. And from what I saw, everything that he threw hurt Roy in some capacity. And Roy got the hell out of there. Now, on two occasions, Roy lowered his head with his fists up by his ears and then he would come back and stun Lebedev with a left or right hook. He would surprise him with right hands while dancing. Lebedev was only hurt once and it was momentary. Maybe twice. But Roy was hit with a lot of shots that he never would have been hit with in his youth. No question.
Now, the difficult part… Towards the end of the last round, Roy is circling and he circles into a neutral corner. I position myself to the side and he seems to be parrying the punches and then there’s a very significant flurry by Lebedev. Roy is down in a semi-crouch and he gets hit with a right uppercut. Now, I want you to grasp this. This is not Pavlik-Taylor I where I could see that he’s out. He was in a defensive posture. His hands were never down, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. His senses were such that he could still keep his hands up. I saw the delivery of a significant shot. It was a short right hook. And after the delivery of that punch I jumped in.
People have asked me, why the last shot? Why didn’t you go in? But see, there are two sides to the coin. Imagine if I had stopped it and he was just playing possum. There would have been a firestorm! This wasn’t Chavez-Taylor, because I didn’t have eye contact with him. I couldn’t see his face. And up until that point, it’s a competitive round. He was in a defensive posture and I was on his left. And when Lebedev delivered that last shot, I stepped in. He was out from the uppercut, but I couldn’t see it. His hands were up. He’s on his feet. The ropes weren’t holding him up. And that’s the same posture he was in when he landed his two best punches of the fight. Hands up with the rabbit ears, and he fires out of it, surprising everyone.
After the fight, Roy came up to me and said, “Steve, can you believe he got me with one second to go?” And I didn’t say anything. I just smiled, because I was relieved that he was up and walking again. His team thanked me afterward. Lebedev did as well. He was very gracious afterwards. His promoter thanked me too. And that’s the story in Moscow. But I want it to be noted that I give Roy tremendous credit for taking this kind of fight. In February of this year, I worked the Steve Herelius-Yoan Pablo Hernandez fight. Steve Cunningham was on the card as well. It was the night of the cruiserweights. Herelius was the WBA cruiserweight champion and Hernandez knocked him out in the 7th round. Point being, that having worked with some of the top cruiserweights and having seen Steve Cunningham, I think Lebedev is right up there with them. He’s a tough, strong guy and I give Roy all the credit in the world for taking the fight at this point in his career. And when he was younger, I think he would have destroyed him.
DL: Another fighter who happens to be in his 40’s fought that very same night you worked the Roy Jones fight. And of course, that’s Bernard Hopkins, who made history by becoming the oldest man ever to win a world title by defeating Jean Pascal for his light heavyweight title. And it’s funny, because you were the referee of the first fight between Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins back in 1993. Could you ever have imagined that almost twenty years later that these two would still be fighting?
SS: No, I could not. And Roy and I discussed our history. The Roy Jones-Bernard Hopkins fight was May 20, 1993 on the 50 yard line on what was then known as RFK Stadium. Everyone thought it was going to be the fight of the decade. Bernard was once-beaten and Roy was unbeaten and it was for the IBF middleweight championship of the world. It was tagged as the show-stealer with the feature being Rid**** Bowe vs Jesse Ferguson. And I think Rid**** stopped Jesse in the 2nd round. So all eyes were pointed at my fight. And in my view, it was somewhat of a letdown in that I believe Bernard caught Roy early with a significant shot. It seemed Roy decided that instead of engaging, he’ll just box. He beat Bernard by a decision, but it never had the fireworks that the press and the boxing media thought would occur. Roy and I discussed that fight and it turns out that this fight (Jones-Lebedev) was originally scheduled for May 20th, which means it would have been eighteen years to the day. And that was the last time I worked with him. So I said to him before the fight, “It took me eighteen years to get you in the ring, Mr. Jones!” And he laughed and hugged me. I had given him instructions before the fight and I signed his wraps and we had a laugh.
DL: When was the last time you spoke with Bernard Hopkins?
SS: Last time we spoke, he was walking out to take Kelly Pavlik to school. I was on the undercard. And I wished him well and he said, “Watch me tonight, Steve.” That’s the last time.
DL: So switching gears, one fight you worked this year was between two undefeated super bantamweights, which was Teon Kennedy vs Jorge Diaz (Kennedy won via UD). And from what I understand, it was an absolute war.
SS: Yes, it was. It was the show-stealer. It was an HBO card on the undercard of Gamboa-Solis. We were responsible basically for the attendance because we had a lot of Philly fans (Kennedy’s hometown) and a lot of North Jersey fans (Diaz’s hometown). At first, I was very, very impressed with Kennedy’s ability to withstand Jorge’s early barrage. But I believe Kennedy severely hurt him in either three or four. It was one significant punch away from a stoppage. The impression it left me was the ability of Jorge coming on, even though he had lost a lot of his drive. It was mostly instinct. I was very impressed and he was even able to rally. And I was glad that I exercised significant discretion to allow him to go on, because he went nine more rounds. And Kennedy really fought well and did a hell of a job.
DL: Another fight you worked this year was a middleweight bout between Andy Lee and Craig McEwan (Lee won via 10th round KO). What’s your take on that fight?
SS: McEwan was a late sub and it was a surprise that he did as well as he did. When it was first made, it was supposed to be the “Battle of Ireland.” The original opponent was John Duddy. When I received the assignment, I was told by the excellent commissioner of Foxwoods Peter Timothy that he thought I fit the fight very, very well (because Smoger is Irish). I had worked with Duddy before, but I don’t believe I ever worked with Andy Lee. Long and short, when they came up with Craig McEwan, he was sort of a question mark, because I don’t think he had any major bouts on his resume.
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