Rugged light heavyweight Joe ‘The Beast’ Smith Jr 26-3 (21) has reflected on some of his biggest fights ahead of his fight against Maxim Vlasov 45-3 (26) for the vacant WBO 175-pound belt at Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday night.
The fight was originally scheduled to take place on February 13 before being pushed back after Russian Vlasov, 34, tested positive to Covid-19.
Long Island’s Smith Jr, 31, scored a breakthrough win against Andrzej Fonfara at an 18-1 underdog in June 2016, knocking him out in the opening round.
“That was a night I will never forget,” Smith r said. “The crowd was really loud and there were a lot of Fonfara fans there that I was able to make my fans.
“I knew I could beat him, I really believed it. We realized that [Fonfara] left himself open when he punched and that’s what I looked for.”
In his very next fight Smith Jr faced Bernard Hopkins in December 2016, earning the distinction of being the first boxer to stop the Philly legend.
“I wanted to be the first guy to knock him out, but I must say, [Hopkins] is one tough guy man,” Smith Jr said.
“I hit him with some clean hard shots and he was still there, punching back. When I had him against the ropes, I hit him with a right hand that I saw basically had him out on his feet, before I hit him with a left hand that sent him out of the ring.”
Perhaps the toughest fight in his career came against WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol two years ago, a fight he lost on points.
“The Bivol fight taught me a lot about myself,” Smith Jr said. “I realized that to win at that level, I needed to have better movement and be more fluid. I needed to stay busier and be more focused the whole time, not just looking for one big shot. I wish I would have started faster in that fight.”
Next up was fellow contender Jessie Hart who he faced in January last year. Smith Jr had Hart on the deck in the seventh and had him all but gone in the 10th and final round courtesy of a big right hand.
“I watch the clip of that every time,” Smith Jr said. “If I just pushed myself harder from the beginning, I think I could have won that fight. Maybe winning this title on April 10th will help me get back to that fight again.”
Hart promised to knockout Smith Jr in honour of his mentor Hopkins.
“He was one of those guys that was making someone else’s problems his,” Smith Jr continued. “He was telling me he was going to knock me out and that he had more knockouts than me and I think at the time he only had one more knockout than me.
“He said at the bell he was going to come right to me and fight, so the bell rang and I ran to the middle of the ring and he started dancing around me like a ballerina and I said, ‘Dude I thought you were going to come to fight.’”
Smith Jr found himself the underdog once again when he faced Eleider Alvarez in his most recent outing last August, a fight he won by ninth-round knockout.
“I don’t mind being the underdog,” he said. “You have to know your skill and know that you can always win. Going into that fight was different because it was at ‘The Bubble’ [at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas] and there were no fans, but I didn’t mind it because there were no distractions at all.”
Alvarez was the second consecutive number one light heavyweight and favoured fighter that Smith Jr fought last year, but he says those type of facts don’t impact his mindset.
“Anybody is a dangerous opponent,” he said. “I was confident in both fights, but there is always that thought in your head that this guy can beat you.
“Anybody can lose, but as long as you work hard and do what you need to do, you will win. That’s what I think. I can beat anybody anywhere, anytime.”
