Destruction and Construction – Beterbiev Vs Smith Jr. + WBC Stats

By James Blears

What mindset do you place yourself in, to take on WBC and IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev, who´s stopped all seventeen opponents in his professional career?

WBO champion Joe Smith Jr is donning his strategic thinking cap, because it´s a question which will starkly and poignantly confront him at Madison Square Garden, just up the road from where he lives on Long Island, dateline Saturday June 18^th.

For years, Joe has balanced a day job in construction with his night work as a boxer. In 2017, he and his dad founded Team Smith Tree Service. On the big night, he must do everything in his power to wield the axe, chop and bring about the felling, while avoiding: “Timber!”

Born in Khasavyurt Russia, but now Canadian, Artur who started his pro career in 2013, is a destroyer in the ring. Up to now and like the Mounties, he´s always got his man. He KO´s and TKO´s opponents from round one and dispatches them in the twelfth, like he did with Enrico Koelling for the vacant IBF title.  He finally caught up with elusive Enrico, dropping him twice in the eleventh and twice more in the twelfth.

Switch-hitting for a moment, cricketing legend Sir Ian Botham, said of master batsman Alvin Kallicharran that fully fit he was supreme, but when limping he was devastating, because he only wanted to hit sixes! That`s comparable to what happened after Arthur`s forehead was vertically sliced in the fourth round, after a clash of craniums with Marcus Browne. With blood pouring and masking his face crimson, he went into ferocious overdrive, dominating, by dropping Marcus with a left to the body and a right to the head in the seventh, and then upending him again with a mighty right to the head in the ninth, with the referee waving it off. A bloodbath victory!

Ian, who`s not renowned for his tact or diplomatic skills, has also quipped: “I don`t ask my wife to face fast bowler Michael Holding, so there`s no reason I should be changing nappies.” OUCH! Arthur who`s a father of four, has done his share of diaper changing!

Joe, who turned pro in 2009, is paradoxically nicknamed Beast from the East.  His record stands at 28-3, including 22 KO`s. One of his losses via UD was to Sullivan Barrera. Joe put Sullivan down in the first, but had to prove his mettle and anvil resolve to go the distance, because he suffered a broken jaw in the second, which later required surgery. Earlier in his career Eddie Caminero had fractured his jaw in two places in the second. Joe withstood searing pain until the fourth, when it was stopped. Back then, he`d needed repair via surgery.

Joe´s toughest fight was against WBA champion Dmitry Bivol. The slimmer and smaller Bivol was happy to engage in exchange after exchange. Both had their moments. Bivol came very close to stopping Joe in the last ten seconds of the twelfth and final round.

Joe´s finest victory was stopping Andrzej Fonfara in round one, when they fought for the WBC International crown. A big right dropped Andrzej and then a left right combination felled him again and it was all over.  Joe also stopped the legendary Bernard Hopkins. It was Bernard`s final farewell fight. Joe knocked him through the ropes in the eighth and Bernard couldn`t get back into the ring to beat the permitted count of twenty by Referee Jack Reiss.

Artur´s finest hour was against also undefeated Oleksandr Gvozkyk, who he stopped in the tenth. Oleksandr who was the WBC and lineal champion, put up terrific, determined and sustained resistance, giving IBF champ Artur as good as he got…but up to a point.  Arthur who isn´t an elegant boxer, never relents. In a war of attrition, he felled Oleksndr in the six with a left right combination, and then went to work with some clouting, sinking body shots. He dropped Oleksandr three times in the tenth, all with mighty rights, to bring down the curtain.

The only time Artur has even visited the canvass was courtesy of a mighty left hook from Brit Callum Johnson in the second, after Artur had knocked him down in the first. Arthur`s steam hammer right dispatched the Englishman to the canvass in the fourth and Callum wasn`t able to beat the count.

One fine day, like with all us Artur will get old?  He`s aged thirty seven, while Joe is thirty two. Joe who`s six feet tall has a seventy-six-inch reach, a three inch reach advantage on Artur who`s half an inch shorter.

Joe won the WBO title by defeating six feet four inches tall Maxim Vlasov by split decision. Although Joe prefers to fight in the trenches, he can also box, which he did very effectively, before stopping Eleider Alvarez with a superb TKO in the ninth round.

This is going to be a heavy hitting, lion hearted encounter. It`ll test Joe`s jaw and his heart won`t be found wanting either. Has Arthur fully healed from that atrocious gash on his forehead, or will it re-open under heavy bombardment? Although he surely has a sturdy mouth guard, is he becoming a little long in the tooth?

They`re ready to give it their all and go hell for leather. The winner might have to venture to hell and back in an incandescent firefight, which is unlikely to go the distance.  War and peace in The Big Apple!

 

WORLD BOXING COUNCIL STATS

Jose Sulaimán WBC HONORARY POSTHUMOUS LIFETIME PRESIDENT

(+) Mauricio Sulaimán

WBC PRESIDENT

WBC LT. HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE CHAMPIONSHIP

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN THEATER NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA

JUNE 18, 2022

 TV: ESPN   

 

THIS WILL BE THE WBC’S 2, 143 CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE   FIGHT   IN   THE   FIFTY-EIGHT YEAR HISTORY OF THE WBC

TOP RANK PRESENTS:

ARTUR BETERBIEV                                            JOE SMITH JR

(CANADA)                                                                (US)

WBC CHAMPION                                            WBO CHAMPION

 

Nationality:     Canada                                              Nationality:     USA

Date of Birth:  January 21, 1985                                Date of Birth:  September 20, 1989

Birthplace:      Khasavyrut, Russia                            Birthplace:      Long Island, New York

Residence:       Montreal, Canada                              Residence:       Long Island, New York

Age:                 37                                                       Age:                32

Record:           17-0-0, 17 ko’s                                    Record:           28-3-0, 22 ko’s

% KO’s:          100%                                                 % KO’s:         70.9%

Guard:            Orthodox                                           Guard:            Orthodox

Total rounds:   81                                                       Total rounds:  144

World Title fights: 6 (6-0-0)                                       World Title fights: 4 (3-1-0)

Manager:         Marc Ramsay                                     Manager:        Joe DeGuardia

Promoter:        Top Rank                                           Promoter:       Star Boxing

 

WBC´S LT. HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONS

NAME                                                             PERIOD AS CHAMPION

 

1. HAROLD JOHNSON (US) + 1963
2. WILLIE PASTRANO (US) + 1963 – 1965
3. JOSE TORRES (P. RICO) + 1965 – 1966
4. DICK TIGER (NIGERIA) + 1966 – 1968
5. BOB FOSTER (US) + 1968 – 1974
6. JOHN CONTEH (GB) 1974 – 1977
7. MIGUEL ANGEL CUELLO (ARG) + 1977 – 1978
8. MATE PARLOV (YUGOSLAVIA) + 1978
9. MARVIN JOHNSON (US) 1978 – 1979
10. MATTHEW SAAD MUHAMMAD (US) + 1979 – 1981
11. DWIGHT MUHAMMAD QAWI (US) 1981 – 1983
12. MICHAEL SPINKS (US) 1983 – 1985
13. B. WILLIAMSON (US) 1985 – 1986
14. DENNIS ANDRIES (GB) 1986 – 1987
15. THOMAS HEARNS (US) 1987
16. DON LALONDE (CAN) 1987 – 1988
17. RAY LEONARD (US) 1988
18. DENNIS ANDRIES (GB) 1989 *
19. JEFF HARDING (AUSTRALIA) 1989 – 1990
20. DENNIS ANDRIES (GB) 1990 – 1991 *
21. JEFF HARDING (AUSTRALIA) 1991 – 1994 *
22. MIKE MCCALLUM (JAMAICA) 1994 – 1995
23. FABRICE TIOZZO (FRA) 1995 – 1996
24. ROY JONES (US) 1996 – 1997
25. MONTELL GRIFFIN (US) 1997
26. GRACIANO ROCCHIGIANI (GER) (INTERIM) 1998
27. ROY JONES (US) 1997 – 2003 *
28. ANTONIO TARVER (US) 2003
29. ROY JONES (US) 2003 – 2004 *
30. ANTONIO TARVER (US) 2004 *
31. TOMASZ ADAMEK (POLAND) 2005 – 2007
32. CHAD DAWSON (US) 2007 – 2008
33. ADRIAN DIACONU (ROMANIA/CANADA) 2008 – 2009
34. JEAN PASCAL (HAITI/CANADA) 2009 – 2011
35. CHAD DAWSON (US) INTERIM 2009 – 2010 *
36. BERNARD HOPKINS (US) 2011 – 2012
37. CHAD DAWSON (US) 2012 – 2013 *
38. ADONIS STEVENSON (HAITI/CANADA) 2013 – 2018
39. OLEKSANDR GVOZDYK (UKRAINE) 2018 – 2019
40. ARTUR BETERBIEV (CANADA) 2019 –

 * REGAINED

 

WBC´S LT. HEAVYWEIGHT TOP TEN CHAMPIONS

ROY JONES (US)

BERNARD HOPKINS (US)

BOB FOSTER (US)

MICHAEL SPINKS (US)

JOHN CONTEH (GB)

MIKE MCCALLUM (JAMAICA)

JOSE TORRES (P. RICO)

DICK TIGER (NIGERIA)

MATTHEW SAAD MUHAMMAD (US)

CHAD DAWSON (US)

 

GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE LT. HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION IN THE HISTORY OF THE WBC

32 WORLD CHAMPIONS RECOGNIZED BY THE WBC

OF WHICH ONLY 4 HAVE REGAINED THEIR TITLE:

DENNIS ANDRIES (GB)

JEFF HARDING (AUSTRALIA)

ROY JONES (US)

ANTONIO TARVER (US)

CHAD DAWSON (US)

127 LT. HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD TITLE BOUTS HAVE BEEN HELD IN THE HISTORY OF THE WBC IN 15 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES 

THIS IS WILL BE THE 76th. LT. HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN UNITED STATES IN THE WBC HISTORY.

 

WORLD LT. HEAVWEIGHT TITLE BOUTS BY COUNTRY IN WBC HISTORY

USA                                    75

CANADA                            22

ENGLAND                          10

FRANCE                             4

AUSTRALIA                       3

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO       2

ITALY                                2

GERMANY                         2

YUGOSLAVIA                    1

SOUTH AFRICA                 1

RUSSIA                              1

ROMANIA                          1

PUERTO RICO                   1

MONACO                           1

DENMARK                         1

TOTAL FIGHTS       127

 

– IN THIS DIVISION BOB FOSTER (US) HOLDS THE TITLE DEFENSES RECORD WITH 14.

WORLD LT. HEAVWEIGHT TITLE BOUTS BY CITIES IN WBC HISTORY

 

ATLANTIC CITY     14

LAS VEGAS            11

MONTREAL            10

LONDON                8

NEW YORK             8

QUEBEC CITY        6

TORONTO              4

TAMPA                   4

PHILADELPHIA     3

MIAMI                   3

ALBUQUERQUE     2

CHICAGO               2

HARTFORD            2

INDIANAPOLIS      2

LEDYARD              2

LOS ANGELES        2

NEW ORLEANS      2

PORT OF SPAIN     2

SCRANTON.           2

ADELAIDE             1

BALTIMORE          1

BELGRADE            1

BERLIN                  1

BIARRITZ              1

BILOXI                   1

BISMARCK             1

BRISBANE             1

BUCHAREST          1

COPENHAGEN       1

DETROIT               1

DUSSELDORF        1

FLUSHING             1

HALIFAX               1

INGLEWOOD         1

JOHANNESBURG   1

LIVERPOOL           1

LYON                     1

MANCHESTER       1

MARSALA              1

MARSELLA            1

MASHANTUCKET   1

MCAFEE                1

MELBOURNE         1

MILAN                   1

MISSOULA             1

MONTECARLO       1

MOSCOW               1

OKLAHOMA CITY   1

PENSACOLA          1

PORTLAND            1

SACRAMENTO       1

SAN DIEGO            1

SAN JUAN              1

ETIENNE 1

TUCSON                 1

VANCOUVER         1

SPRINGFIELD 1

 

TOTAL: 127

 

WBC TITLE FIGHTS IN NEW YORK STATE IN THE WBC HISTORY

123 BOUTS HAVE BEEN HELD IN NEW YORK STATE IN THE ENTIRE WBC HISTORY

THIS WILL BE THE 12^th WBC TITLE BOUT IN LT. HEAVYWEIGHT CELEBRATED IN NEW YORK STATE

                    

BREAKDOWN BY DIVISION:

HEAVY                                20

WELTER                              20

MIDDLE                              19

LT. HEAVY 11

SUPERLIGHT                        11

SUPERBANTAM                   8

SUPERWELTER                    7

LIGHT                                 7

SUPERMIDDLE                    5

FEATHER                             5

SUPERFEATHER                   3

CRUISER                             2

SUPERFLY                           2

BANTAM                             1

FLY                                     1

STRAW                               1

TOTAL               123