Published
9 months agoon
By
Michael WoodsThe light heavyweights who are just about guaranteed to deliver a super heavyweight helping of action on Saturday night in NYC moved a stepped closer to getting it on. Artur Beterbiev, the Russian bear of a man at 37 years old, holding a 17-0 (17 KOs) record, scaled in at 175 pounds. And Long Island, NY resident Joe Smith (28-3, 22 KOs), the everyman type personality who is total old school with his quiet manner and appetite for combat, was 174.6 at the Friday later afternoon weigh-in held by promoter Top Rank. Be ready to take in straight-up fighting from the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, you can watch Artur Beterbiev vs. Joe Smith Jr on ESPN.
There was zero s—t talking, Artur Beterbiev, holder of the WBC and IBF belts, and WBO titlist Smith simply stared into each others’ eyes, both knowing that tomorrow night, they’d be trading bombs. Artur Beterbiev vs. Joe Smith Jr is a consolidation battle, the WBA version is held by Dmitriy Bivol, but that doesn't lessen the anticipation felt by boxing fans who are not so enamored of the ‘skills pay the bills' stylists who prize avoiding contact more than causing it.
Artur Beterbiev hasn’t faced the caliber of foes that the 32 year old Smith has, but is the favorite to the bookies in this contest.
These timings could change due to the length of the undercard fights. Undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively on ESPN+ (6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m PT/ 11:30 p.m. BST)
(L-R) Bob Arum, Artur Beterbiev, Joe Smith Jr and Joe DeGuardia pose during the press conference ahead of the WBC,IBF and WBO light heavyweight Championship fight. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
Per Draft Kings, Artur Beterbiev is the favorite at -750, and Joe Smith Jr. is the underdog at +500.
Artur Beterbiev: Decision +380; KO/TKO -295
Draw +2500
Joe Smith Jr.: Decision +1100; KO/TKO +900
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Editor/publisher Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the thought to be impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist Woods has covered the sport since then, for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, ESPN New York, RING, and he was editor of TheSweetScience.com from 2007-2015. Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live since 2017. He now does work for PROBOX TV, the first truly global boxing network.