Joe Smith Jr.: record, next fight and profile →
By Tris Dixon - Callum Johnson, who had to withdraw from this coming Saturday’s WBO title shot with light heavyweight champion Joe Smith after getting Covid-19 on Wednesday, may find himself at the back of the queue.
As BoxingScene.com first reported, WBO light heavyweight world champion Joe Smith will make his first title defense against an unlikely contender Steve Geffrard on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Turning Stone Resort Casino and LIVE on ESPN and ESPN Deportes (simulcast on ESPN+) at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Another training camp won't go to waste for Joe Smith Jr. Steve Geffrard agreed Friday to replace Callum Johnson as Smith’s opponent January 15 in a main event ESPN will televise from Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. Geffrard (18-2, 12 KOs) is unknown and unproven at the championship level, but the 31-year-old Miami native is in shape because he was scheduled to fight Argentina’s Gonzalo Andreasen (7-8, 6 KOs, 1 NC) in an eight-rounder Saturday night in Delray Beach, Florida.
Frank Warren, promoter for light heavyweight contender Callum Johnson, has confirmed that his boxer has withdrawn from his upcoming fight - after testing positive for COVID-19.
Joe Smith Jr. wants to fight Artur Beterbiev, but he doesn’t think the feeling is mutual. The WBO light heavyweight champion contends that neither Beterbiev nor his trainer, Marc Ramsey, want the Russian knockout artist to face him in a much-discussed light heavyweight title unification fight. Montreal’s Ramsey also trained top contender Eleider Alvarez for an elimination match Smith won by ninth-round technical knockout in August 2020 at MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.
Boxing’s new season is already in full swing with a heavyweight pay-per-view card already in the bag. January 2022 will play out with multiple title fights but the bigger stuff is still over the horizon.
Joe Smith Jr. isn’t as impressed as some of his peers may be by the potential windfall of a Canelo Alvarez bout. The former day laborer and current WBO light heavyweight beltholder from Long Island, New York was recently asked whom he wants to fight the most and his answer, not surprisingly, was in line with his reputation as a no-nonsense competitor.
Top Rank's CEO, Bob Arum, believes Mexican superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez is considering a full run in the light heavyweight division. Canelo is current the undisputed world champion at super middleweight - a title he claimed back in November after knocking out Caleb Plant.
WBO light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr. is hoping to make up for lost time in 2022. He captured his world title with a tough decision win over Maxim Vlasov earlier this year, but a planned October defense against Umar Salamov was derailed when Smith contracted COVID.
Joe Smith Jr., Long Island’s working class hero, will make the long-awaited first defense of his WBO light heavyweight world title against British knockout artist Callum Johnson on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y.