Who has the better resume at lightheavy - Joe Smith Jr. or Beterbiev

Gvozdyk is well-above any fighter that Joe Smith has beaten.

Though a couple years younger than Artur, Beterbiev made him Gvozdyk grow old before our eyes during that fight...

 

Artur is getting old - but I don't see Smith Jr beating him. Beterbiev is a huge puncher - but also very methodical. Beterbiev would not let Vlasov bully him the way Smith did and he would not miss the opportunities to go the body that Smith looked past. Vlasov has a good chin but I think Artur breaks him down and stops him.

Your analysis of Smith seems spot-on to me.

 

The thing is if it was not for courrption, Vlasov should be the one with the WBO belt and facing Artur. That fight would be much more competitive in my opinion. Vlasov has the reach, work rate, and control of distance to make the fight interesting.

 

Definitely. The best names on Smith's resume (apart from the Vlasov robbery) are Eleider Álvarez and Jesse Hart. Eldeider had clearly gone over the hill as Smith managed to outbox him before the stoppage. Jesse Hart did beat an elderly/diminished Sullivan Barrera and gave Gilberto Ramirez a hard time - but the Ramirez bout was fought at SMW. Hart is not destined to star at LHW.

Joe Smith was pretty close to being stopped in the dying minutes of his fight with Bivol and Bivol is not a KO artist.

 

Smith has the better body of work, Even though I favor Beterbiev head to head.

 

It's marketed as puncher vs puncher and that's all you need to build hype these days.

 

Gotta go with Smith jr.

 

In the latter part of the fight I assumed Smith had taken too much damage to throw a KO punch, that he was too far gone.

It's amazing what he had left but there must have been at least some steam taken off what he landed.