Bob Arum said his matchmaker thinks Joe Smith would ring Beterbiev's Bell. I actually agree. Joe Smith doesn't have to Box, he truly loves it & is durable. Beterbiev pulls out of fights very often & gets a pass. Seems Beterbiev is the light heavyweight Gary Russel Jr in terms of activity. Maybe worse. AB has gotten injured quite a few times now. I'm still upset he pulled out of a fight with Prime Krusher. Who wins Smith or AB?
I can see that overhand right of Smith´s being a real pain in the ass for Beterbiev. And it´s not like the Russian has not been down before. It´s a brilliant matchup, similar to Beterbiev vs Johnson. Both men´s weaknesses and strengths compliment each other and will make for a great fight.
Well Id favour Beterbiev because hes the technically better boxer with more skills in the bank but with these two either could KO each other at anytime, the power they are packing.
This would be a must watch fight filled with fireworks, I love it. Joe Smith has to beat two Russians and he'll be unified champion. Not many would've think of scenario a couple years ago. I still go with Beterbiev by decesion but Joe has power and that relentless style of his. Maybe @Willie Maeket was right after all I hope Bob Arum doesnt marinate this one until 2025 lol
Gvozdyk probably had similar power, maybe slightly less, than Smith. And he wasn't able to do a damn thing to Beterbeef despite being way more skilled as well. Beterbeef by KO.
Beterbiev Better in every department plus he has the pedigree No way he lets Smith off the hook if he hurts him. Within 4 rounds.
After Smith fights the winner of Vlasov - Salamov we can hopefully see that unification and then have Bivol fight the winner of that. Could fight Badou Jack, Hart or Zurdo in the meantime.
Beterbiev has fought plenty of punchers for someone who's only had 15 pro fights Those hooks of Callum Johnson's could fell a tree Beterbiev is one of those fighters who has shared a ring with Seanie in the gym This content is protected Gvozdyk is obviously a very hard puncher and is a highly skilled boxer Hot Rod had as many first round finishes (13 ) as Artur had fights when they fought each other Tavoris Cloud was a legit banger. Campillo said that he was the hardest puncher he'd fought, albeit this was before he fought Beterbiev and he amended that after doing so. Prieto hurt Alvarez with single shots more than Smith did. Granted Smith took Alvarez out with a vicious right hand but that was an Alvarez who'd taken a real beating and lots of seriously heavy blows prior to the finish. How many punchers have Crawford and Spence fought in their 36 and 25 fights respectively? Brook Mikey - blown up 135 pounder whose KO% above 135 = 0% Van Heerden Lo Greco And we're talking ATG featherfists here and 2 of them are career 140 pounders too Algieri Bundu Peterson Crawford Egis who floored him Leprechaun Gamboa who has stopped a grand total 2 of his 11 opponents at 135 and he hurt Crawfy badly Molina is arguably the biggest puncher he's fought LHW has been Banger Central for the last decade The three are or were all arguably top 5 P4P biggest punchers in the sport Kovalev Stevenson Beterbiev So this notion that Beterbiev is glass-chinned and a ''KO waiting to happen'' is nonsense.
I recall the Smith team wanted Beterbiev rather than Bivol as they felt he had a better chance of beating Beterbiev. Smith has improved alot since Bivol. It would be a great, brutal fight that does not see the final bell.
If the fight takes place it'd be next year with Beterbiev pushing 36 years old with a lot of inactivity,,,,,,Joe's more than a live underdog here, I'd bet on him as the underdog.
