Smith destroyed Fonfara in a round He won every round against Elieder Alvarez and then violently knocked him out He turned Jesse Hart into a running man/octopus hybrid, the same Hart who gave Zurdo two really tough grueling fights Even if you scored the Vlasov fight for Vlasov as I did he still gave Vlasov hell and hurt him numerous times and had him badly hurt, in big trouble and on the verge of the first stoppage loss of his career when the ref gave Vlasov the break after the rabbit punch in round 11 He badly hurt Bivol and had that shot landed 10 seconds earlier he might have finished him And he KO'd B-Hop. Sure B-Hop was ancient but as with Alvarez, Fonfara, Rosinsky and maybe even Hart that wasn't a fight he was supposed to win Two of his four official losses were due to him suffering a badly broken jaw in round 1-2. He dropped Barrera heavily prior to his jaw going again Prior to last night Smith had badly hurt, dropped or stopped every single opponent he'd fought since moving up to the world level and that's pretty rare for punchers and he's willing to fight anyone and everyone Beterbiev Bivol Alvarez Vlasov Barrera Fonfara Hart B-Hop Smith had never been down before in his life prior to yesterday Smith isn't some hype job he's legit and he lost to the most feared and fearsome puncher in the sport last night who has a KO 100% not some nobody. Both Beterbiev and Bivol are absolutely fantastic fighters and both are or should be P4P top 10 now
Punch went off right at the bell, which is why Bivol got caught. Would not have landed 10 seconds earlier.
Listen to the thud in those shots and factor in how many flush ones Smith ate in quick succession It's crazy he was able to eat so many of them flush on the temple area because just one of those from a puncher with hands as heavy as Beterbiev will scramble most fighter's senses and discombobulate them How the hell was he able to remain upright after eating that massive uppercut and right hand thump when he was already badly hurt and had taken many flush ones previously in quick succession? His chin is iron. This content is protected This content is protected I hope Smith is alright because I heard he was taken to hospital after the fight
Been high on the Russian for years it's good to see him finally making his mark on the sport after his career had stalled somewhat.. probably looking at another future Hall of Famer here
Yep cast iron chin. I said before the fight that Smith is tough as they come and has one of the best hearts in boxing. Beterbiev would have to break his body because its impossible to break his spirit. No man, no matter how tough can absorb those shots from Beterbiev.
Well, once again, I couldn't have been more mistaken in my prediction lol Was betting on Artur having lost a step combined with the fact that he's been dropped before by another strong puncher in Callum Johnson and had come to the conclusion Smith Jr. had a reasonable chance of getting the upset. How wrong I was! If anything, Artur seems to have gained a step, defying time itself, at-least for the time being. As another poster said, given his style, it's not difficult to conceive of a scenario were he's able to continue in this same stead for another three years, possibly more. Without a doubt, Artur is the most dangerous boxer on the planet right now P4P. Let's hope we get to see him face off against Bivol soon as I'm practically salivating over the idea now.
This was the exact gameplan Smith used. Better to give yourself a punchers chance and get knocked out early than run away like a girl.
You need to check yourself. Smith quit with a broken jaw before. Plenty of fighters have fought through to the end of the fight with severe injuries. Paulie had a badly broken jaw and a broken orbital bone and went the distance. Inoue had a broken eye socket from the second round and in a later round, a broken nose. Margarito had a broken eye socket from the fourth round on. Valero continued fighting despite the white matter of his skull showing through a cut. Tommy Morrison fought through a broken hand and a broken jaw. Abraham had his jaw shattered from the fourth round and went the distance. Smith is tough and has a lot of heart, but let's not pretend that he never quit in a match.
He "quit" because his jaw was broken on both sides and was literally dangling. He didn't "quit" he was sent to the hospital to perform an emergency procedure.
That uppercut looked and sounded like a big shot from a HW and most of those bombs Beterbiev clubbed him round the head with landed with a sickening thud and you could hear the weight in all of them. Even though Smith was dropped multiple times and was stopped in a couple of rounds he still displayed a lot of chin, toughness and heart.
