Beterbiev vs Smith: Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr. Face To Face At Light Heavyweight Unification
FightersTalkTV.com – Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden, will be the witness of world boxing history where two of the light heavyweight division’s fiercest punchers put three world title belts at stake in one of the year’s most anticipated showdowns. The WBC/IBF world champion Artur Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs) – boxing’s only world champion with a 100 percent knockout ratio – will take on Long Island’s WBO champion Joe Smith Jr. (28-8, 22 KOs) this Saturday evening (June 18, 2022). Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr. looking forward to Light Heavyweight unification. (Photo by Mikey Williams) Beterbiev, who is ranked No. 2 by The Ring at 175–pounds, has built a reputation as one of the sport’s premier knockout artists, with 17 wins from 17 fights, all coming by way of stoppage. The fight marks the Russian-born Canadian’s sixth title defense since picking up the vacant IBF strap in 2017, and third since acquiring the WBC title in 2019. The physically imposing Russian moved quickly as a professional. He won the IBF light heavyweight title, stopping Enrico Koelling (KO 12) and defended against Callum Johnson (KO 4) and Radivoje Kalajdzic (KO5). His breakout win came against Oleksandr Gvozdyk (TKO 10) in a unification bout. The 37-year-old has since beaten Adam Deines (TKO 10) and Marcus Browne (KO 9). Smith, who is ranked No. 3 by The Ring, turned professional in 2009. However, it wasn’t until the Long Island native shocked Andrzej Fonfara (TKO 1) and became the first fighter to stop the legendary Bernard Hopkins (KO 8) that he gained acclaim. He hit a rough patch dropping decisions to Sullivan Barrera (UD 10) and WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol (UD 12). The 32-year-old rebounded strongly notably beating former WBO titleholder Eleider Alvarez (TKO 9) and then claimed the vacant WBO title by edging past Maxim Vlasov (MD 12). He has since made one defense against late-sub Steve Geffard (KO 9), by landing a 16-punch combination in the ninth to send the late replacement to his knees and force his corner to wave the fight off. Many boxing fans and observers considered this to be an extraordinary battle and deserved to be the fight of the year. They will see and watch who is going to be the best light heavyweight fighter in the world. Will Beterbiev be able to maintain his perfect record and make it be 18 KOs, or will Smith Jr. collect the three world title belts? At Thursday’s press conference, this is what the fighters and Top Rank chairman Bob Arum had to say. Bob Arum “At my age, this fight brings me back so many decades to when Top Rank promoted the leading light heavyweights in the world like Bob Foster, Matthew Saad Muhammad, John Conteh, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, and Marvin Johnson. The light heavyweight division has given people who follow boxing great thrills for as long as I’ve been promoting fights. Now we have this fight, which will go into the annals like all the great light heavyweight fights of the past and may even be the one that is the greatest.“ “Joe Smith is a tremendous fighter. He has a big heart. He has a lot of skills and a lot of punching power. And what can I say about Artur Beterbiev? He really epitomizes the ferocity that light heavyweights have been known for. Tremendous puncher. Big heart. A guy who refuses to lose. Nothing can be better than this. I predict that this fight will be considered the Fight of the Year for 2022.“ Artur Beterbiev “This is a very important fight for me. With regard to the place, it’s not different for me. I’m more focused on the fight. I’m more focused on my opponent, not on the place. I always ask my boxing coach and my conditioning coach about how I’m doing. I ask them if it’s less than I was doing two years ago. They tell me that I’m doing better than two years ago.“ “If we compare it to the last one, this camp went very well. This camp was better. I want to thank my team, my conditioning coach, my boxing coach, all my team and all my sparring partners who helped me. We had a good camp.“ “We are both ready for this fight. I think it’s going to be a good fight. We will see. I can’t predict the future. I’m just a boxer.“ Joe Smith Jr. “This is a huge opportunity. Beterbiev is a huge name in boxing. Everyone knows who he is at this point. He has two world titles, and I want those belts. I believe this fight is going to be great. You’ve got two big punchers, and I’m just excited to be in there with him. He’s a great name.“ “I’m fighting at the Garden. Home is not too far from here. All my fans are going to be here to support me or, if not, watch at home. I’m just glad to be here defending my WBO title and unifying two other belts.“ “I believe this guy is in his prime right now. I don’t think age has anything to do with it. I know he’s here at 100 percent and ready to go. I know I’m here fighting one of the best, so I trained at 110 percent. I made this camp a little longer. I made sure that I improved things that I wasn’t doing at my best. I stayed more consistent with my training, so I feel comfortable about this weekend.“ Make sure you are watching this big battle, which will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. This is going to be the earliest Christmas present of the year!!
