Joe Smith Jr.: record, next fight and profile →
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.
Steve Geffrard suspected that his boxing career was over after a treacherous three-month stretch in 2013. He had influential representation – Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and manager Shelly Finkel – behind him. The Boca Raton, Florida, native had an impressive amateur resume, too, approximately 150 fights and had won numerous prominent national tournaments in the heavyweight division.
IF you could die based on the number of bitter pills you swallow in life, Callum Johnson must be coming close to overdosing. The heavy-hitting light heavyweight should have been fighting Joe Smith in upstate New York this weekend but two days before he was due to leave the UK, he tested positive for Covid.
Joe Smith Jr. obviously would welcome a high-profile fight against Artur Beterbiev or Canelo Alvarez later this year. A long-discussed showdown with Beterbiev seems like the more realistic option, as both boxers are co-promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. A fight versus Alvarez would be tougher to put together because Alvarez’s purse demands are so high
By Cliff Rold - COVID continues to wreak havoc on boxing as 2022 gets underway with a late replacement in the main event on ESPN (10 PM EST). WBO light heavyweight titlist Joe Smith Jr. was supposed to make his first defense against established, if fringe, contender Callum Johnson. Johnson is out, opening the door for Steve Geffrard’s
Smith, Geffrard Weights Photos Gallery - Geffrard answered the call and will fight Smith this Saturday evening at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y. (ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).
Exactly one week after accepting the most difficult fight of his nine-year pro career, Steve Geffrard easily made weight late Friday afternoon in Verona, New York.
Smith, Geffrard Final Press Conference Photos Gallery - Steve Geffrard wasn't supposed to be here. Last Friday, he was preparing to weigh in for a fight in Delray Beach, Florida, when he received a call. WBO light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr. needed an opponent after British puncher Callum Johnson contracted COVID-19. (photos by Mikey Williams)
By Cliff Rold - The pecking order between the two best light heavyweights in the world isn’t clear. The next man in line right now is. 32-year old WBO light heavyweight titlist Joe Smith Jr. (27-3, 21 KO) has been a hell of a story over the last two years, and a roller coaster over the last five. Smith retired one of the great fighters of the last thirty years in Bernard Hopkins. Smith proceeded to lose his next fight and two of his next three overall.
By Corey Erdman - Steve Geffrard had a feeling this exact thing could happen. Early in 2021, Joe Smith Jr. was scheduled to face Maxim Vlasov for the vacant WBO light heavyweight title, but Vlasov tested positive for COVID-19. Geffrard said in a YouTube interview with Marc Abrams that he thought there might be a possibility for him to step in at that point.