By Sean Jones: Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr. have agreed to a unification match at light heavyweight on June 18th in New York in a fight that will be shown on ESPN.
Beterbiev vs. Smith Jr. will be an old-fashioned slugfest between these two monstrous punchers, and it’s going to be interesting to see which of them emerges as the winner.
With the Beterbiev-Smith Jr fight taking place in New York, Smith (28-3, 22 KOs) will have the hometown advantage over IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs), as he’s from Long Island.
Beterbiev is viewed as the #1 fighter in the 175-lb division, but Smith, 32, has sized him up and thinks he can beat him at this stage of his career.
Depending on how courageous Canelo Alvarez is, we could see him take on the Beterbiev vs. Smith Jr. winner in September or December, provided the Mexican star wins his May 7th title challenge against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
In that case, Canelo would be fighting Beterbiev for the undisputed 175-lb championship this year rather than delaying the fight until 2023 or 2024.
There are some who believe that Canelo is going to wait until 2024 before fighting Beterbiev for the undisputed champion because it’ll increase his chances of winning.
Beterbiev is currently 37-years-old, and he’s not exactly the fastest fighter in terms of hand speed. If Canelo waits until 2024 to fight Beterbiev, he’ll be 39 and more susceptible potentially.
The body punching and inside fighting ability of Beterbiev will be a pure nightmare for Canelo and Joe Smith Jr, as neither of those two like getting hit with body shots.
What could be the clinching factor for Beterbiev to defeat Canelo and Smith is the fast pace that he sets. He doesn’t allow his opponents to rest in between assaults, and for Canelo, who has a poor engine, he needs lots of rest breaks.
If Beterbiev doesn’t allow Canelo to get his breaks to catch his breath, he’s likely to stop him, especially with the body punching.
When Canelo fought Gennady Golovkin, he would look at the referee for help when GGG would hit him to the body, as if he were getting hit low. The shots weren’t low, and it clearly showed that Canelo doesn’t like taking body shots.
It won’t be a problem for the Russian Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs) to take this fight, as his promoter Bob Arum revealed this week that the two-time Olympian from Russia has been living in Canada for over 10 years. As such, Beterbiev won’t be blocked from taking the fight due to any potential ban.
“Sources: Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr., have an agreement in principle for a light heavyweight title unification fight on June 18 in New York on ESPN. Three 175-pound belts on the line. The other title will be contested May 7: Dmitry Bivol-Canelo Alvarez,” said Mike Coppinger.
Beterbiev’s best wins:
- Marcus Browne – KO 9
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk – TKO 10
- Callum Johnson – KO 4
- Radivoje Kalajdzic – KO 5
- Gabriel Campillo – KO4
- Tavoris Cloud – KO 2
When Beterbiev scores knockouts, he actually stops his opponents rather than getting TKOs like most fighters.