By Patrick McHugh: #2 WBC, #3 WBA, #4 WBO light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara (28-3, 16 KOs) will be taking a step down in competition this Saturday night against 26-year-old prospect Joe Smith (21-1, 17 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round bout on June 18 on Premier Boxing Champions on NBCSN at the UIC Pavilion, in Chicago, Illinois.
This is a huge step down for Fonfara from the guys he’s been fighting lately in his fights against Nathan Cleverly, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Adonis Stevenson. Smith is arguably at the same talent level of Doudou Ngumbu, a fighter Fonfara defeated two years ago by a 10 round decision.
Smith was beaten six years ago by Eddie Caminero (7-9, 7 KOs) by a 4th round knockout in August 2010. Smith never avenged the loss. Smith has picked up wins over the capable Will Rosinsky, Cory Cummings and Otis Griffin. However, Smith has never beaten anyone of note that you can call definitely a good fighter. That’s one of the reasons why many boxing fans see Smith as having no chance of beating a high caliber fighter like Fonfara.
Smith is just the B-side opponent being brought in to give it a go on Saturday against Fonfara in the minds of some fans. It’s not news that top fighters like Fonfara are taking decent 2nd tier fighters like Smith to keep them sharp to get them ready for the world champions. Fonfara is too good at this point for him to get a lot of the top contenders to agree to fight him.
Fonfara might have scared away the top guys from fighting him after his recent performances in beating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Nathan Cleverly. Fonfara, 28, looked very good in both of those fights, as well in his 12 round decision loss to WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in May 2014. Fonfara needs a good performance to show that he belongs up there with the best at 175. Fonfara wants to get another world title shot. However, it’s difficult to picture him being able to compete with the current light heavyweight champions Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson right now. Fonfara would be better off targeting WBA World light heavyweight champion Juergen Braehmer in the near future rather than Stevenson or Kovalev, because he’s clearly the most beatable of the champions at 175.
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Also on the Fonfara-Smith card, is unbeaten junior middleweight Erickson Lubin (14-0, 10 KOs) facing Daniel Sandoval (38-3, 35 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round fight. The 25-year-old Sandoval is a decent fighter, but his resume is totally padded. He’s never beaten a top level fighter, and I suspect he’ll get taken out by Lubin.
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Unbeaten Juan Carlos Payano (17-0, 8 KOs) will be defending his WBA Super World bantamweight title against Rau’shee Warren (13-1, 4 KOs) in a rematch. Payano and Warren faced each other last year with Payano defeating Warren by a 12 round split decision in August 2015. It was a great fight. The rematch should even be better. Payano is a highly talented fighter with a previous victory over Anselmo Moreno in September 2014 in beating him by a 6th round technical decision.
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Unbeaten middleweight contender Hugo Centeno Jr. (24-0, 12 KOs) will be facing 27-year-old Maciej Sulecki (22-0, 7 KOs) in a 10 round fight. Sulecki has previous wins over Derrick Findley and Grzegorz Proksa. Centeno has wins James De La Rosa, Lukasz Maciec, Ayi Bruce and Allen Conyers. In September 2013, Centeno’s fight against unbeaten junior middleweight Julian Williams was ruled a no contest after the fight was stopped in the 4th due to an accidental head-butt.
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In another fight on the card, undefeated welterweight prospect Alex Martin (12-0, 5 KOs) will be facing Juan Carlo Abreu (19-2-1, 18 KOs) in a scheduled 8 round bout. Abreu was recently beaten by Jamal James last year by a 10 round unanimous decision in September 2015. Abreu’s other loss on his resume was to former two-division world champion Humberto Soto by a 10 round decision in March 2014. The 26-year-old Martin was a highly decorated amateur in the U.S with a record of 340-10. He’s a very good fighter.
Martin’s lack of punching power is the only problem thus far as a pro. He’s got good size at 5’10” for a 147-pounder, but his lack of punching power could limit his future success. Unless Martin can develop his power, he’ll likely struggle to defeat the better fighters in the welterweight division.