WBO light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr 28-3 (22) says he was not surprised by WBA 175-pound champion Dmitry Bivol 20-0 (11) defeating undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 57-2-2 (39) last month.
The 31-year-old Russian Bivol clearly outboxed Mexican superstar Alvarez, 31, by scores of 115-113 across the board, although many fans and pundits thought it could have been a much wider victory for the reigning champion.
Long Island’s Smith, 32, lost a wide points decision to Bivol three years ago by scores of 109-119 twice and 110-118.
The WBO boss, who is slated to face WBC and IBF champion Artur Beterbiev 17-0 (17) at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York on June 18, says he wasn’t surprised Bivol got the better of Alvarez, who was widely considered to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
“I thought Bivol had a great chance to win the fight,” Smith Jr said.
“Canelo is used to facing aggressive guys, constantly trying to knock them out and coming forward.
“Bivol is not that kind of guy, he’s going to pick his shots and move, I pictured the fight the way it went.”
Alvarez had fought once before at 175-pounds when he lifted the WBO belt from Sergey Kovalev in November 2019 by 11th round knockout.
Smith was coy when asked whether he would’ve beaten Alvarez is he had the chance to face him.
“You never know, styles make fights,” Smith said. “I believe at this point I’m ready to face the best, I believe I am one of the best and can beat a lot of the best.”
Smith’s plan is to defeat Russia’s Beterbiev, 37, before rematching Bivol for all the marbles. He is backing his natural strength to overcome the unified champion’s vaunted power.
“I’m always prepared to go 12 rounds, but if I can get him out of there early, that’s one thing I love to do,” Smith said on The DAZN Boxing Show.
“I don’t want to go 12 rounds, if I can get him out in two, three, four, whatever it maybe, I’m going to do it.
“I still believe Bivol is the best light heavyweight right now, and I believe he will be until I get my rematch.
“I know he’s great and he put on a great show against Canelo so you can’t doubt him.
“Everyone he’s got in the ring with, he’s made them look ordinary.
“That’s what I want, I want to be undisputed.
“If we can make that fight happen sooner rather than later, I want to become undisputed as quickly as possible.”
The winner of the Beterbiev vs Smith fight will be a worthy challenger to Bivol. Both matchups would produce fireworks.
Smith was last in action in January when he stopped Steve Geffard in nine. Beterbiev’s last fight was a ninth-round knockout of Marcus Browne in December.
