Tag Archives: Joe smith jr

Posted on 01/16/2022

By: Hans Themistode

Though Joe Smith Jr. wasn’t expecting Steve Geffrard to lay down, the fringe contender proved to be far more durable than even the WBO light heavyweight titlist was anticipating.

While Geffrard boxed well early on, a determined Smith Jr. refused to lose his newly won 175 pound trinket to his late replacement opponent. As the midway point of their showdown came rolling by, Smith Jr. had his man all figured out. The 32-year-old titlist proceeded to pound Geffrard into submission, scoring the knockout win in the ninth round at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, late last night.

With the first defense of his world title successfully made, Smith Jr. now has his eyes set on facing the upper echelon of the division. In a perfect world, the Long Island product would love to get his hands on unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev. Considering their penchants for knockouts, Smith Jr. is fairly confident that a showdown between them produces fireworks.

But, no matter how intrigued Smith Jr. is by the possibility of facing Beterbiev, there’s another name that has recently begun protruding to the top of his list…Canelo Alvarez.

The Mexican product and pound for pound star ended his 2021 with a historical performance. With three super middleweight titles already in his possession, Alvarez faced off against Caleb Plant for the final piece of the 168 pound puzzle. Despite having his troubles early on, Alvarez ended their contest is violent, scoring two knockdowns in the 11th before finishing him off in the same round.

Although Beterbiev is Smith Jr.’s preferred target, if the WBO belt holder were able to land a showdown against Alvarez, he believes the fans will be in for a treat.

“I think it makes a great fight that the people want to see,” said Smith Jr. to SecondsOut. “You have the number one pound-for-pound fighter and world champion in another weight division. I think for him to come back to light heavyweight and fight for all the belts would be something the fans would love to see.”

Presently, it appears as though a trip to 175 pounds, a division in which Alvarez successfully won a title against Sergey Kovalev in 2019, isn’t on the forefront of his mind. As first reported by Mike Coppinger of ESPN, in all likelihood, Alvarez is headed towards a showdown against WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.

Should Alvarez at some point find himself standing across the ring from the current 175 pound titlist, Smith Jr., while he respects Alvarez’s skills, believes he’ll have a bevy of advantages.

“I’m the bigger guy but he’s the pound-for-pound king. He has a lot of experience and it would just be a pleasure to fight him.”

Posted on 01/16/2022

By: Hans Themistode

WBO light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr. was hoping to test the chin as well as the mental resolve of Callum Johnson. With the two scheduled to square off in the main event at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, this Saturday night, Smith Jr. was excited to display the new wrinkles he added to his game.

Yet, with a little over a week left until their showdown, Johnson was forced to withdraw from their contest due to a positive COVID-19 test result. Refusing to be removed from the card, Smith Jr. was elated when he discovered that fringe contender Steve Geffrard was ready, willing, and able to step in on only eight days’ notice.

With Geffrard presenting a completely different style in comparison to Johnson, Smith Jr. struggled early on.

Known for his ability to box, Geffrard flicked out a strong jab and stuck on the outside. Whenever Smith Jr. attempted to come in close, the Miami, Florida, resident reeled off several combinations to keep him at bay.

Throughout the entirety of Smith Jr.’s career, he grew accustomed to marching forward. This time around, however, he attempted to box. The WBO titlist bounced up and down on his toes and used slick head movement to avoid the consistent offensive attack of his man. While Smith Jr. was successful in making him miss, he seldom made him pay.

In the following round, Geffrard’s confidence continued to skyrocket. He snapped the head back Smith Jr. on numerous occasions, forcing the champion to rethink his overall game plan. With Geffrard boxing well, Smith Jr. abandoned his initial box-first approach and got his hands dirty in the fourth. As a result, he produced a strong round.

The Long Island native came out roaring in the period. He stuck his head in the chest of his man and pounded away at the body. Seemingly uncomfortable with the relentless attack to his midsection, Geffrard attempted to protect himself by bringing his hands down. That, of course, was exactly what Smith Jr. was hoping for. In the blink of an eye, the WBO belt holder split the guard of his man and landed a crisp straight right hand.

A few seconds later, Geffrard fell into the ropes and began to cover up. While Smith Jr. was unable to stop him in the frame, he continued his offensive onslaught throughout the remainder of their contest.

At one point, a seemingly dejected Geffrard revealed to his head trainer Kevin Cunningham, that something was wrong with his left shoulder. Cunningham immediately ignored Geffrard’s words and urged him to give it everything he had in order to fulfill his world title dreams.

Try as he might, Geffrard simply had nothing left in the tank as Smith Jr. mercilessly stalked him throughout. In the ninth and clearly on unsteady legs, Geffrard dropped down to a knee as he was overwhelmed by the barrage of punches.

Although Geffrard appeared unable to beat the count, Cunningham stepped in to call a halt to their contest anyways, officially handing Smith Jr. the knockout victory and allowing him to complete the first defense of his WBO crown.

Posted on 01/15/2022

By: Hans Themistode

Joe Smith Jr.’s path to light heavyweight gold wasn’t an easy one.

Though the Long Island native has suffered numerous bumps and bruises along the way, he’s ultimately proud that he took the long road. Following a failed attempt at dethroning WBA belt holder Dmitry Bivol in March of 2019, Smith Jr. went back to the drawing board.

After hitting the reset button, his world title dreams were finally realized after stringing together three consecutive victories, the latter coming against Maxim Vlasov for the vacant WBO crown. With one checkmark placed on his boxing to-do list, Smith Jr. believes he still has plenty left to accomplish.

Though the 32-year-old is mere hours away from defending his crown against fringe contender Steve Geffrard, he’s hopeful that a showdown between himself and fellow heavy-hitting unified champion Artur Beterbiev, can come to fruition.

“I believe that’s one of the biggest fights in boxing to be made,” said Smith Jr. on Max on Boxing. “It’s two huge punchers in there going at it. That’s what people like to see. They like to see people punching hard and knocking somebody out.”

Roughly one week before Christmas in 2021, Beterbiev continued his knockout winning ways and ended the world title dreams of ranked contender Marcus Browne. The two squared off in Beterbiev’s adopted hometown of Montreal, Quebec, in front of a raucous crowd.

Early on, Beterbiev was forced to deal with adversity as blood poured from his forehead due to an inadvertent headbutt. While his vision appeared to be affected at times, Beterbiev systemically broke down the former Olympian to register two knockdowns before ending their showdown in the ninth.

Considering the ferocity in which both champions throw their punches, Smith Jr. dreams of one day being able to share the ring with the unified star.

No matter how badly Smith Jr. craves their highly-anticipated showdown, however, he refuses to look past Geffrard. Originally, the newly crowned WBO titlist was expecting to face off against Callum Johnson. But, in what has become the norm, Johnson was forced to withdraw from their contest due to a positive COVID-19 test result.

Now, with Geffrard stepping in on short notice, Smith Jr. refuses to look past the Miami-born contender. Following back-to-back defeats in his first two contests as a professional, Geffrard has gone on to win 18 straight, something Smith Jr. has taken notice of.

But, despite his current form, Smith Jr. views his showdown against Geffrard as an opportunity to show off more than just the vaunted power he’s become known for.

“I believe you’re going to see a faster, sharper, just all-around fighter.”

Posted on 01/06/2022

By: Hans Themistode

Callum Johnson believed he was on the verge of completing his lifelong dream of becoming a world champion. After dropping unified light heavyweight titlist Artur Beterbiev during their 2018 showdown, Johnson began salivating. However, while he got off to a hot start, Beterbiev rallied back, stopping his man in the fourth round.

Following three consecutive victories, Johnson had successfully worked his way back to title contention. And, on January 15th, the 36-year-old was looking forward to facing off against WBO belt holder Joe Smith Jr.

But, in news that has become the norm, Johnson has been forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19. With the pair slated to face off in less than a week, Johnson’s promoter, Frank Warren, expressed his disappointment with the entire ordeal.

“It’s a real great shame for Callum,” said Warren to BBC Sport. “Hopefully we can get him back in, they may want to [reschedule the fight] in late spring. He worked really hard to get the opportunity.”

While Johnson’s withdrawal has come at an inopportune time, Smith Jr. is expected to remain on the card and compete against a replacement opponent. The 32-year-old was crowned a world champion for the first time in his career following his win over Maxim Vlasov in 2021. Originally, the New York native was expected to step through the ropes at the tail end of 2021 but was forced to hold off on his title defense due to his own bout with COVID-19.

If for some reason, Smith Jr. emerges victorious and bypasses Johnson, Warren wouldn’t be entirely disappointed. With another one of his highly-rated contenders within striking distance of mandatory status, Warren would have no issues if Smith Jr. looked the other way.

“I’d love to do Joe Smith v Anthony Yarde in the UK. The WBO says there is a mandatory due and it’s going to be Yarde. He is the number one. Anthony looked so good in his last fight against Lyndon Arthur. We’ve got him down to fight sometime in March anyway. Fingers crossed. We’ll see what happens next week with Smith and how he comes through. Then go from there. I want to keep Anthony busy. We want to get the world title shot for him. The experience he’s gained since [fighting] Sergey Kovalev stands him in good stead. He really gives Smith so many problems.”

Posted on 01/03/2022

By: Hans Themistode

If the opportunity presented itself, just about any and everyone would jump at the chance to face Canelo Alvarez. With the Mexican native tabbed as boxing’s number one attraction, both in terms of skills and box office appeal, fighters have continually urged the pound-for-pound stalwart to face them in the ring.

But, regardless of his prestigious stature and the countless bags of money that can be hurled in his direction, Joe Smith Jr. isn’t exactly interested in going down that route.

“At this point, everybody would choose the Canelo fight because there’s money to be made there,” said Smith Jr. to Brian Custer on the Last Stand Podcast. “Really, for my legacy, I want to be known as a great fighter. I would like to fight [Artur] Beterbiev and [Dmitry] Bivol.”

After failing to win a world title against Bivol in 2019, losing a wide unanimous decision, Smith Jr. went right back to the drawing board. As a result, the New York native reeled off three straight victories, the latter resulted in his first world title.

With light heavyweight gold now wrapped around his waist, Smith Jr. has gone from the hunter to the hunted. In addition to a possible showdown against Alvarez possibly in his future, Smith Jr. has also been the target of current 168-pound contender Daniel Jacobs. Yet, despite Jacobs throwing his name into the mix as a possible future opponent for Smith Jr., the newly crowned WBO belt holder is more inclined to aggregate more world titles.

“It’s not really a fight I want,” said Smith Jr. when asked to gauge his interest in facing Jacobs. “The fights I want, I want to unify. I want to fight Beterbiev and Bivol. I’m not trying to go backward, I want all the belts.”

In the case of Alvarez, since claiming every world title at 168 pounds to become the division’s first undisputed world champion, the Mexican product has expressed his interest in facing Beterbiev in the immediate future. However, the multiple division champion is on the verge of competing for the cruiserweight crown in the first half of 2022.

Beterbiev, on the other hand, currently holds the IBF and WBC 175 pound titles. The heavy-hitting unified champion recently registered his 17th consecutive knockout victory on December 17th, 2021, against Marcus Browne. Beterbiev pounded his man several times over before scoring the stoppage win in the ninth.

Posted on 08/16/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Joe Smith Jr. appears to be on his way to defending his newly won WBO light heavyweight title against once beaten contender, Umar Salamov.

As first reported by Mike Coppinger of ESPN, the pair have placed their signatures on the dotted line for a showdown that is being targeted for sometime in October or November later this year. The most likely destination for their contest would be The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Since suffering defeat at the hands of journeymen Damien Hooper in 2017, Salamov has been on a roll, winning seven straight. Regardless of his recent streak, Salamov (26-1, 19 KOs) figures to be a massive underdog against Smith Jr. The 31-year-old has had a career filled with plenty of highs, including unlikely wins against Andrzej Fonfara, Eleider Alvarez, and Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins. Smith Jr. has seen several low points. From mid-2017 to early 2019, the Long Island New York native lost two of his three contests.

Still, Smith Jr. (27-3, 21 KOs) continued to chug along and reeled off two straight victories before picking up the first world title of his career against Maxim Vlasov earlier this year in April.

A win for Smith Jr. would not only solidify himself amongst the elite of the 175-pound division but it would likely set up quite possibly the most significant contest of his career. For the past several months, talks have been ongoing between Smith Jr. and former 160-pound champion and current 168-pound contender, Daniel Jacobs.

The two could meet in a clash that would see Jacobs move up a weight class to challenge Smith Jr. for his world title. A deal between the pair, of course, is contingent upon Smith Jr. and his ability to get past Salamov.

Posted on 07/12/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Joe Smith Jr. is currently lining up his next two fights, one of which, would see him face Daniel Jacobs.

After taking down Maxim Vlasov via majority decision earlier this year, Smith Jr. celebrated his first world title win. Now, for his next act, the Long Island native is reportedly finalizing a two-fight deal, the first of which would come against mandatory challenger Umar Salamov. The Russian native has reeled off seven straight wins since suffering the lone defeat of his career against Damien Hooper.

Seemingly confident in his ability to pick up the win, Smith Jr. already has his next opponent lined up. Should the newly crowned WBO light heavyweight belt holder do what many are expecting, he’ll find himself up against fellow New Yorker, Daniel Jacobs.

As first reported by ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, Jacobs vs. Smith Jr. would take place during the first quarter of 2022. The all New York showdown would presumably go down at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

News of the soon to be announced agreement comes as somewhat of a surprise. For most of his career, Jacobs campaigned at the middleweight division. His tenure at the land of 160 was extremely successful as he held the WBA “Regular” and IBF crowns.

After coming up short in a unification bout against Canelo Alvarez in May of 2019, Jacobs moved up to the super middleweight division seven months later. In his debut, Jacobs easily got rid of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. via fifth-round stoppage. He then followed that up with a less than stellar performance against fringe contender, Gabe Rosado. Although Jacobs would ultimately pick up the split decision win, he openly admitted that it wasn’t his best performance in the ring.

Both Jacobs and Smith Jr. grew up around the New York area and attended many of the same amateur tournaments. Being completely candid about the reverence that he currently has for Jacobs, Smith Jr. confessed that he looked up to his soon to be opponent for years.

Now, if he’s able to take care of business against Salamov, Smith Jr. will step into the ring against the man he’s always admired.

Posted on 05/20/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Promoter Eddie Hearn is doing all he can to get former middleweight champion, Daniel Jacobs, one of the biggest fights of his career.

According to reporter Mike Coppinger, Hearn revealed to him several weeks ago, that he fully intended on making a multi-million dollar offer to WBO light heavyweight champion, Joe Smith Jr. Staying true to his word, Hearn did, in fact, send an offer to the Long Island native. Seemingly happy with the terms of the agreement, Smith Jr. appears to be fully on board.

“Just got word from my team that there’s an offer to fight Daniel Jacobs,” said Smith Jr. on his Instagram account. “I love this fight, especially in New York.”

The possible showdown between Smith Jr. and Jacobs comes as somewhat of a surprise. After defeating Maxim Vlasov earlier this year for the vacant WBO title, promoter Bob Arum stated on numerous occasions that he would immediately schedule a unification showdown against WBC/IBF champion, Artur Beterbiev.

Yet, with an unexpected offer to face Jacobs, Smith Jr. appears more than willing to turn his attention towards him. More than anything, facing his fellow New York native allows Smith Jr. to take a trip down memory lane.

“Growing up fighting in the amateurs, there were two fighters, Danny and Will Rosinsky, that I loved going to see fight. Every time I got the opportunity to see them fight, they would destroy their opponent and I learned a lot about the sport of boxing from watching them. I never got the chance to face them in the amateurs due to them being a little older than I was. Unfortunately, when the time came that I was ready, they had become professionals.

In 2015, I got the opportunity to face Will at the Barclay’s Center and to me, it has been one of my biggest accomplishments as a fighter. I learned so much that night.”

As for Jacobs, a move to the light heavyweight division could see his run as a super middleweight short-lived. After losing his IBF middleweight title against Canelo Alvarez in May of 2019, Jacobs grew tired of squeezing his enormous frame down to the 160-pound limit and instead, moved up in weight. The trek eight pounds north has proved to be successful thus far as Jacobs has picked up back-to-back wins against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Gabriel Rosado. The latter, however, ended controversially as most of the boxing world believed Rosado should have been given the nod.

Regardless of just arriving in his new weight class roughly a year and a half ago, Jacobs appears ready to move up. By all accounts, Smith Jr. is set to welcome him with open arms. Not only would a win over the former 160-pound belt holder net him one of the biggest wins of his career, but more importantly, it will allow Smith Jr. to put to bed the one question that has been on his mind since he was a young child.

“I would love to face Danny to end that thought of what if we fought? In my mind as a kid.”

Posted on 04/11/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Joe Smith Jr. was disappointed with what took place a few years ago. In March of 2019, the Long Island, New York, native was thoroughly outclassed against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. Instead of giving up on his dream, Smith Jr. simply placed his head down and got to work.

With back-to-back wins against Jesse Hart and Eleider Alvarez as an underdog, Smith Jr. (27-3, 21 KOs) had effectively worked his way back to world title contention and didn’t waste his newly acquired opportunity.

In front of roughly 500 fans inside of Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Smith Jr. took on fellow streaking contender Maxim Vlasov.

Despite coming in as the favorite, things didn’t start off great for Smith Jr. The herky-jerky style of his opponent threw his rhythm off completely. The Long Island native’s head was repeatedly snapped back due to the consistent jab of his man and while he attempted to throw something back in return, Smith Jr. couldn’t find the target.

An early cut in round two made things worst for the championship hopeful. He attempted to wipe the blood from his eye and get himself back into the fight but Vlasov continued to befuddle him. With an early deficit, the sparse crowd attempted to push him forward as they yelled at the top of their lungs. Seemingly encouraged by all of the support, Smith Jr. began landing some big shots.

Vlasov, to his credit, kept his composure and continued to push the pace. For much of the middle rounds, both men fought on even terms. With Vlasov pocketing several of the early rounds though, simply fighting on even terms wasn’t going to get the job done for Smith Jr.

As the championship rounds rolled by, Vlasov (45-4, 26 KOs) slowly began fading as Smith Jr. caught his second wind. The shots he threw during the first half of their fight that hit nothing but air, now found their target and Vlasov’s face began marking up as a result of it.

Wanting to leave nothing up to chance, Smith Jr. closed their contest strong, including a 12th round flurry that most likely sealed his championship fate. While all three judges struggled to give a definitive answer to their showdown, Smith Jr. was elated once his name was called at the end of a majority decision by the scores of 114-114, 115-112 and 115-113.

Smith Jr.’s title dreams may have come to fruition but he appears to be already looking ahead.

“I want the other belts,” said Smith Jr. during the post-fight interview. “I want to unify.”

Posted on 02/11/2021

By: Hans Themistode

All of the long hours and hard work that Joe Smith Jr. put in is all seemingly for nothing. At least for now. 

The light heavyweight contender was just recently informed that his upcoming showdown against Maxim Vlasov for the vacant WBO title will no longer take place this weekend as Vlasov has tested positive for COVID-19. 

To the surprise of no one, Vlasov was gutted by the news. 

“I am devastated with the postponement of my world title fight against Joe Smith Jr,” said Vlasov. “I have been following strict protocols, I have done regular testing with negative results, and I have no symptoms. I am well prepared and had an excellent training camp. I look forward to the rescheduling of the fight and the opportunity to display my world-class skills.”

For Smith Jr., the road to becoming a world champion appeared to be lining up perfectly for him. With back to back wins against Jesse Hart and former titlist Eleider Alvarez, Smith Jr. stomped his way to his second world title attempt. The Long Island native’s first shot originally came roughly one and a half years ago against Dmitry Bivol. 

Breaking down their showdown is a simplistic one as Smith Jr. was dominated round after round. Still, even with the lopsided loss, promoter Bob Arum was confident that Smith Jr. would blast out Vlasov which would ultimately set up a three belt unification matchup with unified champion Artur Beterbiev. 

Those plans obviously, will now have to wait. 

Even without the main attraction, the show must go on. Stepping into the spotlight on the night will be former IBF lightweight titlist Richard Commey. For the former belt holder, it’ll be his first ring action since a second round knockout loss at the hands of Teofimo Lopez in December of 2019. 

Posted on 08/22/2020

Joe Smith Jr vs Eleider Alvarez

For the second consecutive contest in a row, light heavyweight contender Joe Smith Jr (26-3, 21 KOs) was given no respect from oddsmakers.

The doubters never bothered the Long Island native, and once again, he made them look foolish on the night.

Smith Jr. gave former title holder Eleider Alvarez (25-2, 13 KOs) the beating of a life-time in the main event at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Alvarez came out of the gate slow and lethargic. His activity was lower than usual and he consistently found himself having to defend himself from the nonstop pressure of Smith Jr.

With everything working for him on the night, Smith Jr. finally wore his man down in the ninth and landed a right hand that sent Alvarez right through the ropes. He laid there for a moment trying to catch his breath, but by the time he staggered to his feet, the referee gave the signal to call an end to their contest.

Julian Rodriguez vs Anthony Laureano

It’s been a night of short fights at the MGM Grand Conference in Las Vegas Nevada, and that only continued as Julian Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) got rid of Anthony Laureano (13-1, 4 KOs) in the first round.

After two straight knockdowns, Rodriguez closed the show with a third and final one in the opening frame.

Clay Collard vs Maurice Williams

Clay Collard (9-2-3, 4 KOs) went from a nobody to an absolute star over night. With three wins in a row against undefeated fighters, Collard stepped into the ring tonight against Maurice Williams (7-2, 3 KOs).

For those who were expecting a competitive bout tonight at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas Nevada were sadly mistaken as Collard dominated his man to the tune of a third round stoppage.

Duke Rogan vs Luis Alvarado

Things couldn’t have gone any better for Duke Rogan (1-0, 1 KO).

The featherweight product made his pro debut by scoring a quick knockout. The Cincinnati native hit his man with a devastating right hand that sent Luis Alvarado (1-2, 0 KO) down to the mat. To his credit, he managed to climb back to his feet but was completely unaware with his surroundings. That in turn forced the referee to wave their contest off.

Posted on 07/31/2020

By: Hans Themistode

Light heavyweight contenders Joe Smith Jr. and Eleider Alvarez will be looking to give the judges the night off when the two meet August 22nd, at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

A high level scalp won’t be the only reward for the victor as their contest is a WBO title eliminator. 

For Alvarez (25-1, 13 KOs), his rise to the top of the division was a quick one. Unfortunately for him however, so was his fall from it. 

The Colombian native parlayed an undefeated career into a WBO title shot against then champion Sergey Kovalev in 2018. With most of the world doubting his capabilities, Alvarez blocked out the noise. He went out and ripped the title from Kovalev via 7th round stoppage. The smiles that accompanied his performance however was short lived. Kovalev would enact his immediate rematch clause and outclass Alvarez over 12 rounds. Since then, he’s KO’d fringe contender Michael seals earlier this year. 

But while Seals never truly presented much of a threat, former title challenger Joe Smith Jr. (25-1, 20 KOs) will be another story entirely. 

Over the years, Smith Jr. has earned the reputation for upsetting the Apple cart. In 2016 the Long Island native scored a first round knockout over contender Andrzej Fonfara. From there, he found himself standing across future hall of famer, albeit over 50 years of age at the time, in Bernard Hopkins. Smith Jr. would knock Hopkins right out of the ring and right into retirement. Despite his success, in his first bid to win a world title, he fell woefully short against Dmitry Bivol. 

Nevertheless, that loss hasn’t put a dent in his title aspirations. In his most recent ring outing, he dominated Jesse Hart. Now, he finds himself on the cusp of another title shot should he get past Alvarez. 

With four division world champion Canelo Alvarez, vacating his 175 pound WBO title in order to move back down in weight, both Smith Jr. and Alvarez are attempting to place themselves ahead of the pack to grab the vacant gold. 

Posted on 06/04/2020

By: Hans Themistode

The last time Canelo Alvarez was seen inside of the ring, he was being lifted into the air by trainer Eddie Reynoso shortly after leaving Sergey Kovalev slumped over the bottom ropes. The win gifted Alvarez with several awards. He was moved up by most to the number one spot on their pound for pound list. More importantly though, Alvarez picked up Kovalev’s WBO Light Heavyweight title. 

Fighters often devote their entire careers to becoming a champion, but for Alvarez, a multiple time champion across four weight classes, simply tossed his newly won trinket to the side and opted for a move to the Super Middleweight division. Now, with the WBO title up for grabs, we are getting closer to who will claim the vacant strap. 

Light Heavyweight contenders Eleider Alvarez and Joe Smith Jr. have come to an agreement for a title eliminator with a speculative date of July 16th being tossed around. The MGM Grand Convention Center in Las Vegas Nevada has emerged as the frontrunner in terms of the location. 

Both men are in familiar positions coming off bounce back wins. For Smith, he was lethargic and apathetic in a loss against Dmitry Bivol in 2019, but he looked like a completely different man against Jesse Hart. He rocked the Philadelphia native earlier this year and dominated much of the contest. Ignore the split decision victory as much of the contest was in the favor of Smith. As for Eleider Alvarez, the former world title holder immediately dropped his title against former belt holder Sergey Kovalev. 

Paying for that loss was Michael Seals. Alvarez landed a picture perfect right hand in the seventh round to place himself back in the winners circle. 

Now, with both men finding a bit of momentum, there could be an even bigger prize for the winner of their contest. 

With a victory, either man could be in line to face the winner of Maksim Vlasov vs Umar Salamov for the vacant WBO title.