Joe Smith Jr. (born September 20, 1989) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who held the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruis ...

title from 2021 to June 2022. In 2016, Smith became the first boxer to score a stoppage victory over former undisputed middleweight world champion

Bernard Hopkins Bernard Hopkins Jr. (born January 15, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight cla ...

, who retired after their fight.

Professional boxing career

Early career

Smith made his professional debut in October 2009 defeating David Brown by technical knockout in the first round in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. Smith won his next five fights only to lose his 7th professional fight against Eddie Caminero. Over the next five years, Smith racked up a record of 20 wins with 16 coming inside the distance and 1 loss. This included wins against the likes of

Otis Griffin Otis Griffin (born August 22, 1977) is an American professional boxer and ranked light heavyweight contender. Professional career Griffin fought on several major undercards and has been featured on ESPN. He captured the NABO light heavyweight ch ...

, Cory Cummings and a decision win against

Will Rosinsky Will "Power" Rosinsky (born December 28, 1984) is a firefighter with the New York City Fire Department and a professional boxer hailing from Queens, New York. Amateur career Rosinsky was a decorated amateur, winning the New York Golden Gloves ...

Career from 2016–2017

In April 2016, Smith defeated Brazilian boxer Fabiano Pena (16-4-1 12 KOs) via a 2nd-round TKO winning 15 straight fights and continuing to rise up the ranks.

Smith vs. Fonfara

It was announced that Smith would be fighting the #2 WBC contender, former world title challenger

Andrzej Fonfara Andrzej Fonfara (born 4 November 1987) is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2018 and held the IBO light heavyweight title from 2012 to 2013. He also challenged twice in his career for the WBC light heavyweight title, ...

(28-3, 16 KOs) for the

WBC international This is a list of current WBC International champions.""

UIC Pavilion Credit Union 1 Arena (previously known as UIC Pavilion) is a multi-purpose arena located at 525 S. Racine Avenue on the Near West Side in Chicago, Illinois, which opened in 1982. Description and history Credit Union 1 Arena is located on the cam ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

on June 18, 2016 in a scheduled 10 round fight in the main event of the

Premier Boxing Champions ''Premier Boxing Champions'' (PBC) is an ongoing series of televised boxing events connected to manager Al Haymon. PBC was initially promoted as an effort to return boxing to mainstream broadcast and cable television, as opposed to premium chann ...

card on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

. Fonfara was coming off a huge decision win over British boxer

Nathan Cleverly Nathan Cleverly (born 17 February 1987) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2017. He is a two-time light-heavyweight world champion, having held the WBO title from 2011 to 2013, and the WBA (Regular) title from 2016 ...

. A win here for Fonfara would set him up for another world title shot. In an 'Upset of the Year' in the light heavyweight division, Smith won the title by defeating Fonfara via a 1st-round technical knockout. Smith knocked Fonfara down twice in the round 1. The fight was halted after the second knockdown by referee Hector Afu. The official time of the stoppage was at 2:32. Smith caught Fonfara with a big right hand that dropped him. Fonfara got back to his feet. The referee let the fight continue. When the action resumed, Smith landed a left hook that snapped Fonfara's head back. Smith then followed up with a hard right hand to the head that dropped Fonfara in the corner, which ended the fight. The win also ended Fonfara's 15 fight undefeated streak at the UIC Pavilion. The fight took place on

. The whole card averaged 1.32 million viewers.

Smith vs. Hopkins

Former multiple weight world champion

(55-7-2, 32 KOs) announced he would be having a farewell fight at The Forum in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

on December 17, 2016. He picked Smith as his final opponent. Hopkins would be coming out of a two-year layoff having last fought in 2014 in a decision loss to then unified

champion

Sergey Kovalev Sergey Alexandrovich Kovalev (russian: Сергей Александрович Ковалёв (Ko-va-LYOV); born 2 April 1983) is a Russian professional boxer. He has held multiple light-heavyweight world championships, including the WBA (Undi ...

. Smith was said to be 'excited' to be fighting on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, in a card promoted by Golden Boy. Both boxers weighed in at 174 pounds. On fight night, in front of a 6,513 crowd, Smith upset and defeated Hopkins via KO when he knocked him out of the ring in the 8th round; Hopkins failed to make it back into the ring as referee Jack Reiss gave his 20-count. He became the first boxer to stop Hopkins inside the distance. Smith started much stronger than expected and his speed and power seemed to surprise Hopkins. In the 8th round, Smith caught Hopkins in the corner and landed five shots to the head that knocked him out of the ring. Hopkins said he was hurt and couldn't get back into the ring. He insisted that he’d been pushed out of the ring, but replays showed it wasn't a push. Hopkins spoke to HBO in the post fight interview, ''"He shoved me out of the ring. My ankle got twisted when I fell out of the ring. I couldn't stand on my feet ... I can’t believe they gave him a TKO. They can call it a no-contest but not a loss. The momentum from his body pushed me. I went out like a soldier. I’m not in denial."'' Smith retained his WBC International light heavyweight title with the win and spoke of his respect for Hopkins in the post-fight, stating he is 'a true champion'. Hopkins' reported purse was $800,000, compared to Smith's $140,000. According to Ringtv, the fight averaged 934,000 viewers, peaking at 1.035m on HBO.

Smith vs. Barrera

In March 2017, the WBC ordered a final eliminator between Smith and

Oleksandr Gvozdyk Oleksandr Serhiyovych Gvozdyk ( uk, Олександр Сергійович Гвоздик, ; also Hvozdyk; born 15 April 1987) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 2014 to 2019. He held the WBC and lineal light-heavyweig ...

, ranked third and fourth respectively by the WBC. The winner of the fight would then become the secondary

mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...

for the world title. On May 12, Boxing Scene confirmed a deal was in place for Smith to fight Cuban light heavyweight contender

Sullivan Barrera Sullivan Barrera (born 25 February 1982) is a Cuban professional boxer. As an amateur, he won the middleweight gold medal at the 2000 AIBA Junior World Championships. He challenged once for the WBA light heavyweight title in 2018. Amateur car ...

(19-1, 14 KOs). Early reports indicated the fight would be part of a HBO triple-header also featuring

Miguel Berchelt Miguel Ángel Berchelt Cervera (born 17 November 1991) is a Mexican professional boxer who held the WBC super featherweight title from 2017 to 2021. Amateur career Berchelt tried out at the age of 16 for the football club he supported as a ch ...

defending his WBC super featherweight title against mandated

Takashi Miura is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2017. a former WBC Super featherweight Champion. He was born in the Akita Prefecture and lives in Tokyo. Professional career Miura vs. Diaz Miura won the WBC super feather ...

on July 15, 2017 in Inglewood, California. The fight was officially confirmed on May 18 and shown live on HBO: Boxing After Dark. Smith knocked Barrera down in round one with a left hook to the head, but was dominated for the rest of the fight and went on to lose via unanimous decision after 10 rounds. The three judges scored the fight 97-92, 97-92 and 96-93 all in favour of Barrera. Smith was beaten to the punch in almost every round, only landing 61 of his 320 punches thrown (19%), whilst Barrera was more accurate in landing 187 of 484 thrown (39%). In round 4, Smith was hit with a clean uppercut and by the end of round 7, his team urged him to go for a knockout. Referee Jack Reiss had the ringside doctor take a look at Smith after the seventh, but the fight continued. Ringtv scored the fight wider 98-91, only giving Smith two rounds. It was revealed after the fight there was confusion in Barrera's corner as well as the HBO commentary team in regards to the fight being 10 rounds instead of 12. The referee told both boxers to touch gloves at the start of the 10th round. At first the HBO commentary thought the referee had made a mistake, but were later told, both fighters agreed to the fight being 10 rounds. The fight averaged 617,000 viewers on HBO and peaked at 719,000 viewers. According to

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, Smith may have sustained a suspected head injury and taken to hospital after the fight. Smith accepted defeat to the better man, "Sullivan Barrera fought a good fight, and I congratulate him." Smith earned a career high purse of $160,000 compared to Barrera, who earned $130,000 for his win. A few days later, Smith released a statement on social media that he had broken his jaw and believed to have broken it in round two, "Somewhere during the second round I was injured and was in a lot of pain, but I did not want to let it show and I refused to quit." As the fight went on, he admitted the pain got worse and the fight got tougher. On July 20, Smith had surgery to repair his broken jaw. The surgery took place at the

Stony Brook University Hospital Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH), previously known as Stony Brook University Medical Center, is a nationally ranked, 695-bed non-profit, research, and academic medical center located in Stony Brook, New York, providing tertiary care for the ...

in Stony Brook, New York.

Career from 2018

In January 2018, according to his promoter Joe DeGuardia, Smith was looking to make a ring return around May 2018. DeGuardia stated that he wanted to create an event around Smith, however did not mention whether Smith would fight a top contender. On May 9, it was announced that Smith would make his return to the ring at the

Mohegan Sun Arena The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features of configurable exhibition space and a clear span. It was built by the Perini Buil ...

Montville, Connecticut Montville is a town in New London County, Connecticut in the United States. The population was 18,387 at the 2020 census. The villages of Chesterfield, Mohegan, Oakdale, and Uncasville are located within the town; the latter two have their own ...

on June 30, 2018. On May 31, it was confirmed that 39 year old Melvin Russell (11-4-2, 7 KO's) would be Smith's opponent in a 10-round bout. Smith dropped Russell twice in round 1 before the referee stopped the bout after just 1 minute 45 seconds. After the bout, Smith called for a bout with then-WBO champion

Smith vs. Bivol, Hart and Álvarez

In September 2018, it was reported a deal was being worked out for Smith to challenge Russian boxer

Dmitry Bivol Dmitry Yuryevich Bivol (russian: Дмитрий Юрьевич Бивол; born 18 December 1990) is a Russian professional boxer who has held the WBA light heavyweight title since 2017. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the 2013 World Co ...

for his WBA light heavyweight title. On October 15, Yvon Michel told the

LA Presse ''La Presse'' can refer to the following newspapers or news agencies: * ''La Presse'' (Canadian newspaper), published in Montreal, Canada * ''La Presse'' (French newspaper), published in the 19th and early 20th century *''La Presse de Tunisie'', a ...

that Smith was in talks to challenge his fighter, the IBF champion

Artur Beterbiev Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev ( ce, Арту́р Асильбе́кович Бетерби́ев russian: Артур Асильбекович Бетербиев; born 21 January 1985) is a Russian-Canadian professional boxer. He is a unified ...

(13-0, 13 KOs), on a card that would take place on

DAZN DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet. The ...

. Smith's manager, Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing also confirmed the Beterbiev fight was the one they would pursue. According to Le Journal de Montr''é''al on November 3, Beterbiev decided against defending his title on December 15 against Smith and instead stated he would fight him in early 2019 instead. On March 9, 2019, Smith Jr challenged WBA champion Dmitry Bivol for his light heavyweight version of the belt. Smith Jr managed to stun Bivol at the end of the tenth round, and Bivol needed the ropes to balance his way to the corner. Bivol, however, dominated most of the fight and came very close to stopping Smith Jr just before the final bell. The scorecards read 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110 in favor of the champion. In his next fight, Smith Jr battled Jesse Hart. Smith Jr roughed up Hart, and knocked him down en route to a split-decision victory. Two judges had it 98-91 and 97-92 for Smith Jr, while the third judge had Hart winning the fight, 95-94, the last scorecard deemed controversial by both media and fans alike. On 22 August, 2020, Smith Jr, ranked #4 by the WBO, #7 by the IBF, #8 by the WBC and #8 by The Ring at light heavyweight, fought Eleider Alvarez, ranked #3 by the WBO, #6 by the WBC and #4 by The Ring. In what was a WBO title shot eliminator, Smith Jr, usually regarded as more of a brawler, showcased his boxing skills en route to a ninth-round KO win. Smith Jr caught Alvarez with two right hands, which sent the Colombian under the ropes and ended the fight.

Smith vs. Vlasov

On April 10, 2020, Smith Jr. challenged

Maxim Vlasov Maxim Sergeyevich Vlasov (russian: Максим Сергеевич Власов; born 11 September 1986) is a Russian professional boxer. He challenged for the WBO interim cruiserweight title in 2018, and the WBO light-heavyweight title in April ...

for the vacant WBO World Light Heavyweight Title. Smith Jr. was able to capture the title via a controversial majority decision. Two judges had it 115-113 and 115-112 for Smith Jr, while the third judge had it tied at 114-114.

Smith vs. Geffrard

Smith was expected to make his first WBO title defense against the #5 ranked WBO light heavyweight contender Callum Johnson on January 15, 2022, at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in

Verona, New York Verona (called ''Te-o-na-ta-le'', "''pine forest''" by the Haudenosaunee) is a town in southwestern Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 6,293 at the 2010 census. The town was named after Verona, Italy. Verona is located s ...

. On January 6, 2022, it was revealed that Johnson was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a positive

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

test. He was replaced by

Steve Geffrard Steve Geffrard (born August 28, 1990) is an American professional boxer. Amateur career Geffrard was the US amateur triple crown in 2010, winning the Police Athletic League title, the US Golden Gloves heavyweight title, and the US national amat ...

, who stepped in on a weeks notice. The bout was broadcast by

and

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It h ...

. Smith stopped Geffrard in the 9th round.

Smith vs. Beterbiev

On May 4, 2022, it was announced that Smith would be defending his WBO title for a second time on June 18, 2022 in a unification bout against undefeated WBC and

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

light heavyweight champion

at the

Hulu Theater The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It seats between 2,000 and 5,600, and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is located beneath the main Madison ...

in New York City, New York. The fight was broadcast on

ESPN+ ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. Smith was knocked down three times in the first two rounds as he was defeated via second-round technical knockout, losing his WBO title.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Joe Smith Jr - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Joe Jr. Living people 1989 births American male boxers American people of Irish descent World light-heavyweight boxing champions People from Long Island Boxers from New York (state) World Boxing Organization champions