By Jim Dower: The powerful light heavyweight contender Joe Smith Jr. (24-2, 20 KOs) looked good in stopping an over-matched Melvin Russell (11-4-2, 7 KOs) in the 1st round last Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. Smith, 28, dropped Russell hard twice in the round before the fight was finally stopped by the referee. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:45 of round one.
Like the boots they strap on to wear to work every morning and the boxing gloves they strap on to wear for training every night, both Joe Smith Jr. and Joe Farina know exactly what it means to put in a hard day’s work.
Many of New England’s best and most promising boxers will be in action JUNE 30 on the “SLUGFEST AT THE SUN” card, presented by JOE DEGUARDIA’S STAR BOXING, at Mohegan Sun Area in Uncasville, Connecticut.
“SLUGFEST at the SUN” featuring JOE SMITH JR.
The “Common Man,” Long Island light heavyweight JOE SMITH, JR. (23-2, 19 KOs), returns to the ring after being inactive the past 11 months recovering from a broken jaw. The popular Irish-American will face MELVIN “THE ROMANTIC REDNECK” RUSSELL (11-4-2, 7 KOs) in the 10-round main event.
In the main event of Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing “SLUGFEST at the SUN” on June 30th, JOE “THE BEAST” SMITH JR. (23-2 19KO’s) will make his extremely anticipated return to the ring at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
By Gav Duthie: Even with the surprise retirement of pound-for-pound #1 Andre Ward 32-0 (16), the 175lb Light Heavyweight division is by far the best and most talented division in boxing. Big punching Russians dominate the titles with Sergey Kovalev WBO, Artur Beterbiev IBF and Dimitry Bivol WBA and possible unification bouts between them is a mouthwatering prospect.
By Sean Jones: Sergey Kovalev is already written in for his first title defense of his WBO 175 lb. belt on March 3rd at Madison Square Garden in New York. HBO will be televising the fight. Unfortunately, WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol will be busy fighting Sullivan Barrera, so neither of them is going to be available for the Krusher to fight.
By Allan Fox: Light heavyweight knockout Joe Smith Jr. had surgery on Tuesday to repair a broken jaw he suffered possibly before his disappointing his 10 round unanimous loss to Sullivan Barrera (20-1, 14 KOs) last Saturday night on July 15 at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
By Anthony Montero: A great night of fights at the Forum in Inglewood California that did not disappoint for those in attendance. The triple header started off with an interesting light heavyweight bout between the hard hitting ‘everyman’ Joe Smith Jr of New York and the well experienced tactician Sullivan Barrera of Miami. Most were expecting this to be a brawl filled with fireworks and knock downs, and the first round was just that.
By Dan Ambrose: Former Cuban amateur star Sullivan Barrera (20-1, 14 KOs) had to get up off the deck in the 1st round to come back to defeat light heavyweight contender Joe Smith Jr. (23-2, 19 Kos) on Saturday night to win the WBC International 175 lb. title at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
Born and raised on Long Island, the 27-year-old JOE SMITH JR., (23-1 19 KO’s), has taken the road less travelled to the top of the light heavyweight division. From battling in the New York Golden Gloves to defeating boxing legend Bernard Hopkins live on HBO World Championship Boxing at the iconic Los Angeles venue, The Fabulous Forum this past December, JOE SMITH JR. proved he shines brightest on the biggest stage.