Joe Smith Jr.: record, next fight and profile →
By Lyle Fitzsimmons - It’s the stuff of which bulletin-board vendettas are made. Usually. Asked to assess the man he’ll fight Saturday for the WBO’s light heavyweight title, Russian export Maxim Vlasov labeled imminent foe Joe Smith Jr. as direct, simple, and predictable. In all fairness, the specific words came from an English-speaking interpreter’s lips on an export...
You have to give Maxim Vlasov for knowing his place in possibly the biggest fight of his career. The former cruiserweight title challenger from Samara, Russia understands his role as the boxer in his upcoming fight with heavy-handed contender Joe Smith Jr. The two collide on Feb. 13th, live on ESPN from MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, with the vacant WBO light heavyweight title at stake.
If Joe Smith Jr. and Artur Beterbiev win their upcoming light heavyweight title fights, Bob Arum hopes to match them later this year. Assuming fans can attend by the time a Smith-Beterbiev bout is scheduled, Arum thinks they could even sell out Madison Square Garden in New York.
Joe Smith had a spectacular 2020, consecutively dominating two world rated light heavyweight challengers on ESPN in Jesse Hart and Eleider Alvarez, and was nominated as the BWAA 2020 Fighter of the Year. Now the #1 world rated light heavyweight, Smith Jr. (Long Island, NY 26-3 21KO's) is working hard again in his native Long Island hometown preparing for his WBO world championship title bout against Russian veteran Maxim Vlasov (Samara, Russia 45-3 26KO's).
After exploring other Las Vegas venues, promoter Bob Arum has decided to bring his next two ESPN shows back to MGM Grand. BoxingScene.com has been informed that Top Rank’s cards scheduled for February 13 and February 20 will be broadcast from MGM Grand Conference Center. ESPN has either televised or streamed all of Top Rank’s cards from that venue since Arum’s company brought boxing back to television in the United States on June 9.
By Jake Donovan - With the growing likelihood of only getting one fight in for the year, Teofimo Lopez Jr. was going to make it count. The unbeaten 23-year old Brooklyn native did just that, not only pushing for a fight with three-division titlist Vasiliy Lomachenko but also forcing the action once they met in the ring on October 17. The end result was a clear unanimous...
Even with fewer categories this year, three previous honorees are in the hunt to repeat in the year-end awards. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, Eddy Reynoso and Keith Connolly are among the 2019 year-end recipients who have made their way back to the ballot among the nominees announced for the 2020 Boxing Writers Associations of America (BWAA) awards. Just five categories will be featured for this year’s awards, with the list of nominees formally announced by the organization on Monday.
Light heavyweight contender Joe “The Beast” Smith Jr., the consummate everyman, spent more than a decade as a union laborer on Long Island. He now owns and operates a tree service business, chopping and trimming trees when he’s not training.
If Top Rank chairman Bob Arum’s plan comes to fruition three of the four major light heavyweight world title belts will be unified in the first half of 2021. There is a three-fight plan in place to make it happen, Arum told BoxingScene.
Light heavyweight contenders Joe Smith Jr. and Maxim Vlasov on Tuesday were ordered to meet for the vacant WBO world title. The WBO sent a letter to Star Boxing promoter Joe DeGuardia, Smith’s co-promoter, and Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Vlasov’s promoter, ordering the fight.