By Scott Gilfoid: #1 IBF Stephen Smith (23-1, 13 KOs) will be challenging IBF super featherweight champion Jose Pedraza (21-0, 12 KOs) on March 26th in New York. There was a purse that had been scheduled for today, but it was cancelled due to the two fighters’ management agreeing on the fight, according to Dan Rafael.
Smith, 30, locked himself into a world title shot when he beat 34-year-old Devis Boschiero by a 6th round knockout last September. Smith looked a heck of a lot bigger than the Italian Boschiero, and it wasn’t surprising to me at all that Smith got the win over him.
What’s unclear is why the International Boxing Federation didn’t require that Smith fight someone that is actually good like Jason Sosa or Romain Jacob. I really don’t know how the 34-year-old Boschiero came to get a fight for the IBF mandatory spot against Smith, given that Boschiero had lost twice recently to Romain Jacob. I mean, does losing twice to Jacob automatically translate to contenders being allowed to fight in eliminator bouts for the IBF?
I didn’t understand how the IBF let Boschiero fight in an eliminator after those two defeats. It’s like rewarding failure, isn’t it? To me, the more obvious choice should have been Sosa, who has a lot of talent and who I think would have beaten Smith.
I don’t really think too highly of the 26-year-old Pedraza as a champion. I see him as a paper champion at 130. Pedraza arguably lost his last fight to Edner Cherry last October in beating him by a controversial 12 round split decision. In terms of the super featherweight champions, I rate Pedraza easily as the worst of the lot. I see the following 130lb champions as being better than Pedraza: Francisco Vargas, Takashi Uchiyama, Javier Fortuna and Roman Martinez. If Smith beats Pedraza, then I see him being the new IBF paper champion.
I wouldn’t consider Smith being a real champion, because I only rate Uchiyama as a legitimate champion at super featherweight. He’s the best as far as I’m concerned. Nicholas Walters may be the best fighter in the division right now. Once he gets a shot at the belts, I see him taking over the division for sure.
If Smith can’t beat Pedraza, then I don’t know he can do at that point. This is really Smith’s best and arguably only chance at winning a world title. If he loses to Pedraza, then no way do I see Smith being able to beat the other super featherweight champions. If you throw Smith in with Uchiyama, Fortuna, Vargas or Martinez, I see bad things happening to Smith in those fights. Heck, if you put with in with Walters, Sosa, Takashi Miura, or Orlando Salido, I see him losing to all of those guys.
Smith’s brother Liam Smith currently holds the IBF junior middleweight title. Another one of Smith’s brothers Callum Smith is ranked #1 by the WBC at 168. Still yet another one of Smith’s brothers, Paul Smith, was recently beaten by Andre Ward in his last fight and twice by Arthur Abraham, the WBO super middleweight strap holder.
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