...this guy. This is BS! WBO light heavyweight title at stake, 1st defense of Smith. (Callum Johnson has tested positive for Covid-19, so he's out). Like...nobody top 15 ranked was available on a week's notice? Geffrard even top 40??
Now, you might say "while I've never seen or heard of Geffrard, going off BoxRec it has been nine years since he got stopped, and that was his pro debut!" ...which is a fair point. Until, that is, you realize the stoppage was at the hands of Kentrell Claiborne, who is 4-12...and most of his opponents since haven't been much beter. Now hold on IB, you might follow up, he does have a couple of victories over moderately big-name guys in Denis Grachev and Dmitry Sukhotsky - those guys were contenders!! ...and that's a fair point. Until, that is, you place in context that Sukhotsky in 2016 and Grachev in 2021 were nigh-unsanctionably shot to smithereens.
No, turns out he isn't top 40 in any org. BoxRec ranks him #107 at LHW. Apparently there's still a chance the NYSAC might reject him for being an unsuitable world title challenger.
Uh.. I’ll be impartial and realize that the fight Is literally in 8 days and Geffard was scheduled to fight tomorrow so he has been training. Last minute fights are a catch-22 especially this close. If this was 3+ weeks out I would have expected more but this is understanding..
Du, du hast, du hast mich! Du, du hast, du hast mich! Du, du hast, du hast mich, du hast mich! Du hast mich... Geffrard. Du hast mich... Geffrard. Du hast mich... Geffrard. Aber ich will dich nicht.
There are the December WBO LHW rankings. Hes 15th 1 Anthony Yarde (Int-Cont) UK 2 Gilberto Ramirez MEX 3 Joshua Buatsi GHA 4 Maxim Vlasov RUS 5 Callum Johnson (WBO Global) UK 6 Callum Smith UK 7 Mathieu Bauderlique FRA 8 Fanlong Meng CHN 9 Andre Dirrell USA 10 Adam Deines GER 11 Leon Bunn GER 12 Faris Chevalier AUST 13 Ali Izmailov RUS 14 Lyndon Arthur UK 15 Steve Geffrard USA
You have to hand it to this guy (whoever he is). Fighting his first top100 opponent, but going all out against a consensus top 5 and the hardest hitter in a division of hardhitters. He does have cojones... ill advised maybe, but cojones!
Good on Geffas for stepping up and saving the promotion. Disappointing because Smith-Johnson would have created some beautiful violence. But is what it is.
Looks like he had a pretty serious amateur career. He went from national golden gloves winner to KO'd by a tomato can, then lost his second fight too! That's a nightmare. I wonder what happened?
Curious indeed. Maybe just like Vijender Singh, Wang Zhimin and Paddy Barnes, just not cut out for the pro's.