Joe Smith Jr.: record, next fight and profile →
Now that Artur Beterbiev has handled Adam Deines, Bob Arum is halfway toward making the light heavyweight title unification fight that the promoter can’t wait to put together.
Two months later, Joe Smith Jr. and Maxim Vlasov are ready to fight. Both boxers made weight for their WBO light heavyweight title fight, which takes place Saturday evening live in front of a sold-out crowd at Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Smith (26-3, 21KOs) weighed 174.8 pounds in his bid to become just the fourth-ever boxer from Long Island (New York) to win a major title. Russia’s Vlasov (45-3, 26KO) tipped the scale at 175 pounds for his first major title fight.
Joe Smith Jr. expected to have a title in his possession by the time Artur Beterbiev entered the ring for his most recent title defense. A drastic change of plans during fight week instead left Smith without a February fight when Maxim Vlasov tested positive for Covid-19. Their vacant WBO light heavyweight title fight was delayed by six weeks, leaving the top-rated contender deep into a second consecutive training camp at the time Beterbiev (16-0, 16KOs) ended a lengthy layoff with a 10th round knockout of Adam Deines this past March in Moscow.
Joe Smith, Maxim Vlasov Final Press Conference Photos Gallery - Joe Smith Jr., the small business owner and former union construction worker from Long Island, just wants to fight. Smith, who operates Team Smith Tree Service with his father, hopes to chop down Maxim Vlasov and win the vacant WBO light heavyweight world title Saturday evening at Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma (ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN, 10 p.m. ET).
By Cliff Rold - Losses matter more in the last generation or two than they used to. For some boxers, they can be career crippling. In some ways, it wouldn’t be fair if it didn’t work that way. Once at a certain level of contention, most of the current battlers in the sport just aren’t active enough to afford a mass of defeats. Single losses under the right circumstances might not be too harmful but multiple losses make it hard to sell when there are clusters of fighters waiting for an opening with a limited time on canvas to show their stuff.
Joe Smith Jr. mostly received rave reviews for how he fought while defeating Eleider Alvarez. Smith was thoroughly beating Alvarez on all three scorecards before becoming the first opponent to knock out the Colombian contender August 22 in Las Vegas. His right-left combination sent Alvarez through the two bottom ropes, onto the ring apron, flat on his back and out for the count in the ninth round at MGM Grand Conference Center.
This Saturday night, Joe Smith (26-3 21KO’S) will challenge for the vacant WBO world light heavyweight title in the main event on ESPN against Russian veteran, Maxim Vlasov (45-3 26KO’s). The fight was rescheduled from February 13, to April 10, due to Vlasov testing positive for COVID-19.
As disappointing as it was for Joe Smith Jr. to leave Las Vegas without a fight to show for it, the development was an even greater letdown to the alleged offending party.
Joe Smith already had the rest of the month planned out by the time he hit the Las Vegas strip—win the light heavyweight title, get married, enjoy his honeymoon and hunt down his next divisional target. One out of four isn’t bad in the grand scheme of things.
In a perfect world, Maxim Vlasov would have been back in the ring long ago. Sadly, the universe would not allow him to fight, several times, in the last few months. The veteran light heavyweight contender continues to go with the flow, confident that through patience would come good fortune.