By Craig Daly: IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev fights WBO champ Joe Smith Jr. this Saturday night, June 18th, in a 175-lb unification bout at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Smith (28-3 (22 KOs) isn’t the best fighter that Beterbiev has fought during his nine-year professional career, but he’s a formidable obstacle now, given his age and activity level.
The two-time Olympian Beterbiev is 37-years-old and hasn’t fought much in the last five years.
Many boxing fans believe Beterbiev has started to show signs of slowing down since his war with WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk in 2019, and if he hasn’t looked exceptionally sharp in his last two fights against Marcus Browne & Adam Deines.
Still, with Beterbiev’s 100% KO percentage, massive power, and relentless fighting style, Smith has a real fight on his hands on Saturday night.
Smith was easily outboxed by Dmitry Bivol in 2019, losing by a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision. In 2017, Sullivan Barrera surprisingly defeated Smith by a 10-round unanimous decision.
Smith attributes that defeat to a broken jaw that he suffered during the fight, but he struggled against Barrera even before the injury occurred. For Smith to defeat Beterbiev, he’s got to fight a lot better than he did against Barrera and Bivol.
“I plan on having a fourth of July party or something to get the family together and just have a good time together and celebrating with three of my belts,” said Joe Smith to Top Rank Boxing.
In the co-feature bout, two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (9-1, 5 KOs) will be taking on unbeaten Abraham Nova (21-0, 15 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
This is a BIG step up in class for the 28-year-old Cuban Robeisy, but it’s understandable why Top Rank is making this move. Given Ramirez’s age and vast experience in the amateurs, he’s not someone that requires years of development like other fighters.
Also, Robeisy’s age makes it necessary for him to be moved along quickly if his promoters want to put him in big fights while he’s still young enough to succeed.
Given what’s at stake in this out, the promotion for the Beterbiev-Smith Jr fight has been surprisingly low-key compared to some of the recent lackluster match-ups like Edgar Berlanga vs. Alexis Angulo.
The winner of the Beterbiev vs. Smith fight could face WBA champion Dmitry Bivol or possibly Canelo Alvarez if he still has the ambition to capture titles at 175 after his bad experience.
This Saturday’s Beterbiev-Smith card will be shown on ESPN & ESPN+ at 9:00 p.m. ET. In the UK, the fight will be shown on Sky.
The winner will hold three of the four belts at 175 and will only need the WBA strap held by Bivol to become the undisputed champion in the weight class.
Canelo may be lured by the chance to add to his already outstanding legacy by taking on Beterbiev or Smith if he defeats Bivol next year. Those two could fight in May 2023 if Canelo beats Gennadiy Golovkin in September and whoever he faces in December.
