Joe Smith Jr Wants to Go for Undisputed Before Fighting Canelo
WBO light heavyweight champion Joe “The Beast from the East” Smith Jr. (28-3, 22 KOs) has been in Beast mode lately in the ring. After stopping replacement fighter Steve Geffrard in the ninth round, he immediately called for a unification bout. Furthermore, he wants to save a fight with undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) for last.
THE PATH TOWARDS THE TITLE
The WBO champion dropped out of nowhere with an upset victory, knocking legendary fighter Bernard Hopkins out of the ring in 2016. Smith Jr was poised to rise to the top, but losses to Sullivan Barrera and WBA ‘super’ champion Dmitry Bivol brought things to a screeching halt.
Smith has since bounced back with wins over Jesse Hart and former champion Eleider Alvarez to put things back on track. He went on to win the vacant WBO championship after narrowly defeating Maxim Vlasov back in 2021.
Finally a champion, he was set to face former title challenger Callum Johnson before a positive COVID test factored in, resulting in Smith Jr defending the title against Geffrard.
WANTING ALL THE BELTS ABOVE ALL
Keep in mind, Smith Jr has called for a unification before in an interview on The Last Stand Podcast.
“I want to unify, I want to fight Beterbiev and Bivol. Unless Canelo comes up and he wants to fight, I’ll take that fight.”
Well, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he is staying the course. Except for this time, it was revealed that, during the fighter meetings, Smith said that after Beterbiev, he would forgo a fight with Alvarez until after taking on Bivol.
“If I can get Beterbiev next and beat him, I want Bivol after, so I can unify all the belts. Then I will take out the P4P King.”
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By: Garrisson Bland
