By: Hans Themistode
While Joe Smith Jr wasn’t expecting Steve Geffrard to lay down, the fringe contender proved far more tenacious than even the WBO light heavyweight player was expecting.
While Geffrard boxed well early on, Smith Jr adamantly refused to lose his newly won 175-pound womenswear to a late replacement. When the midway point of their duel came, Smith Jr found his man. The 32-year-old knocked out Geffrard, scoring the knockout goal in the ninth round at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, late last night.
With the successful defense of his first world title, Smith Jr now has his eye on facing the division’s superiors. In a perfect world, the Long Island product would love to get his hands on unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev. Considering their knockout tendencies, Smith Jr is pretty confident that their confrontation produces fireworks.
But, no matter how intrigued Smith Jr is at the possibility of facing Beterbiev, another name has recently started popping up at the top of his list… Canelo Alvarez.
The Mexican product and pound star ended his 2021 with a historic performance. With three super-middleweight titles in possession, Alvarez faced off against Caleb Plant for the final piece of the 168-pound puzzle. Despite struggling early on, Alvarez ended their contest violently, scoring two kills in the 11th round before finishing him off in the same round.
Although Beterbiev is Smith Jr.’s preferred target, if the WBO belt holder can take down Alvarez, he believes fans will enjoy.
Smith Jr told SecondsOut: “I think it makes for a great fight that people want to see. “You have a pound-for-pound boxer and a world champion in a different weight class. I think his return to light weight and fighting for all the belts is going to be something the fans would love to see. ”
For now, it seems a trip to 175 pounds, a division where Alvarez successfully won the title against Sergey Kovalev in 2019, is not on his mind. As first reported by ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, most likely, Alvarez is headed for a showdown with WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.
Should Alvarez ever find himself facing the current 175-pound player, Smith Jr., while he respects Alvarez’s skill, he believes he will have plenty of advantages.
“I’m the bigger guy but he’s the king of weight. He has a lot of experience and it will be fun to fight him.”
