By Dan Ambrose: Joe Smith Jr. and former WBO light heavyweight champion Eleider’ Storm’ Alvarez will be meeting tonight in a 12-round WBO 175-lb title eliminator in the headline event at The Bubble at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Smith Jr (25-3, 20 KOs) vs. Alvarez (25-1, 13 KOs) event kicks off at 7:30 p.m/ ET/4:30 p.m. PT on ESPN+.
The winner of tonight’s Smith-Alvarez clash will take on the winner of the upcoming contents between Umar Salamov and Maxim Vlasov for the vacant World Boxing Organization light heavyweight title.
Smith Jr wants Beterbiev
Canelo Alvarez, the former WBO 175lb champion, vacated the title recently shortly after winning it against Sergey Kovalev on November 2 last year. Had Canelo kept the title, he would have to deal with facing one of the above fighters, and it appears that he wasn’t enthralled with the idea of doing that.
Smith Jr wants to beat the 36-year-old Alvarez, and then defeat the Salamov vs. Vlassov winner so that he can take on IBF/WBC champion Artur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) in a unification.
The bold Long Island, New York native Smith Jr is one of the few fighters in the 175-lb division that is interested in facing Beterbiev.
Canelo chose not to face Beterbiev, and a lot of boxing fans saw his decision to vacate the WBO title as a ducking move on his part. Only Canelo knows for sure why he chose not to face Beterbiev.
Smith Jr weighed in at 174.9 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in, whereas Alvarez came in at 174.6 pounds.
Smith Jr expects to fight for a title shot soon
“I just want to get in there and get this victory and show everybody that I’m improving every time I get in there,” aid Joe Smith Jr to Fighthub. “I’m in a tournament right now.
“If I win this one [against Alvarez], then in my next one, I’ll come for the championship, and then maybe I can unify after that. I’m younger, stronger, faster, and I’ve got a lot of will to get in there and win,” said Joe Smith Jr on why he’s going to beat Eleider Alvarez.
“I’m going for that win on Saturday. I need it. If I get this win, the next fight could be a bigger payday.
“The one after that after I win the world title, it’s life-changing, you know? I really want that world title. I want to accomplish that, and if I don’t get through him [Eleider Alvarez], then I’m not going to accomplish that,” Smith Jr said.
Smith’s fighting style is made to order for the 2008 Olympian Alvarez, and he’s going to need to make some changes if he wants to win. In Alvarez’s only career defeat, he lost to Sergey Kovalev by a 12 round unanimous decision last year in Frisco, Texas.
Kovalev had learned from his previous fight against Alvarez that it was better to box him rather than slug it out, and he was able to use his boxing skills to pound out a decision. In their first fight in August 2018, Kovalev came out punching, and was hurt in the seventh and stopped by Eleider.
Unfortunately for Smith, he doesn’t possess the same talent as Kovalev in terms of his boxing ability, and it’s going to be a lot harder for him to try and beat Alvarez by a decision.
Joe wants to KO Alvarez in early rounds
“He’s trying to take that away from me, and I can’t let that happen,” said Joe Smith Jr. “I’ve got to stay focused. That’s not the case. It’s when you win the world title, that’s when you make the decent money,” said Smith Jr. when told that some boxing fans believe he’s already making great money.
“I don’t have it made yet, but the money that I have made has been life-changing for me. It’s given me a lot of business opportunities, but I still got to work. I’ve stuck with boxing, and I’ve learned from other fighters that have made a ton of money and have nothing now.
“That’s why I try to invest my money in whatever I can. You get used to it after a while,” said Smith jr when asked what it’s like in needing to wear his mask all the time. “It’s possible. I’m going to go in there and give it my all.
“If I can get him out in a few rounds, that’s better for me. Then I can go home and celebrate right away. But if I have to go the distance, then I’m prepared for it. That’s the key To stay busy and stay smart,” said Smith Jr in giving what the key to victory is to defeat Eleider Alvarez.
It’s doubtful that Smith Jr will even try to box Eleider because that’s not what he does. Also if Smith attempts to outslick Alvarez, he’s not likely to have any success. Alvarez has the far superior pedigree, both in the amateurs and professional ranks, and he’ll get the better of Smith Jr if he tries to box with him.
Eleider Alvarez will slug
“We’ll see what happens. He’s a guy that likes to trade too, so I’m sure we’ll be trading at some point,” continued Smith Jr. “From the [Dmitry]Bivol fight, I learned some things that you’ve got to take things more seriously to be mentally more prepared and to stay active every day and work on stuff.
“I train for the fight, and that was hit. Now I’m trying to keep with it and keep improving and moving forward every day.
“Now I’m trying to stay more active and working on my boxing a little bit more. I’ve got my boxing skills, but sometimes you let it go.
“He would definitely be a tough fight, but he’s someone that I would be looking forward to if I win this title,” said Smith Jr when asked about his interest in challenging IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
“We’re both busy and aggressive. It’s a great fight. I want to get three fights in this year. I’m hoping. It would be at the end of December. We’ll see what happens. I just got the win in my mind. That’s it,” said Smith, Jr.
If all Smith can do is go to war with Eleider and hope for the best, then he’ got stick with what’s brought him this far. Smith has found success during his career in using his raw strength to beat these fighters:
- Bernard Hopkins
- Jesse Hart
- Andrzej Fonfara
- Will Rosinsky
Prediction
Barrera will have too many skills and overall talent for Smith Jr to deal with tonight, and he’ll wind up winning a fair one-sided 12 round decision.
Although Smith is the stronger guy with a lot more youthful compared to the 36-year-old Alvarez, he struggles when he faces fighters that can box. We saw that in Smith’s loss to Bivol, and even in his win over Bernard Hopkins.
Smith was having problems with Hopkins until he caught him up against the ropes and knocked him out of the ring in the 8th round. That fight took place four years ago in 2016 when Hopkins was 49.
Rob Brant vs. Vitaliy Kopylenko in co-feature
In the co-feature bout tonight, former WBA’ regular’ middleweight champion Rob Brant (25-2, 17 KOs) is facing 36-year-old Vitaliy Kopylenko (28-2, 16 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
Tonight’s match against Kopylenko is the first appearance for the 29-year-old Brant since losing his WBA 160-lb title to Ryota Murata last July by a second-round knockout in their rematch in Osaka, Japan.
Brant beat Murata by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision in their first fight in 2018, but he didn’t look ready for their second fight last year. Murata was funny prepared for that match, and he came out fast and took the fight to Brant from the opening bell.
You can bet that Kopylenko will have a similar game plan for tonight’s clash, hoping to jump on Brant early with power shots to blitz him in the same way that Murata did on July 12, 2019.
Last Friday, Brant weighed in at 161.1 lbs, and Kopylenko came in at 159.5 pounds at the weigh-in for their match tonight.
Other fights on tonight’s Top Rank card in Las Vegas:
- Julian Rodriguez battles Anthony Laureano.
- Clay Collard vs. Maurice Williams
- Duke Ragan vs. Luis Alvarado
- Robert Rodriguez vs. Abel Soriano
- Adrian Valdovinos vs. Israel Mercado
- Wendy Toussaint vs. Isiah Jones