Joe Smith Jr vs Callum Johnson 15/1/22

[Master]

Joe Smith Jr would choose either Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol over fighting Canelo Alvarez



Joe Smith Jr has one thing on his mind heading into his fight with Callum Johnson next weekend and it's NOT Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.

WBO light heavyweight champion Smith Jr will make the first defence of his world title on January 15 in New York City.

The 32-year-old American, who last fought in April 2021 when he won the belt after defeating Maxim Vlasov on points, is scheduled to the ring at Turning Stone Resort Casino.

Victory for the Long Island native will keep him on a collision course for a unification bout against fellow champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol possibly before the end of the year.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum recently revealed Canelo Alvarez has expressed interest in facing either Beterbiev or Smith Jr.

But if he has a choice he knows who he would pick for his next fight.

During a recent appearance as a guest on The Last Stand podcast with Brian Custer, he said: "I want to unify. I want to fight Beterbiev and Bivol. Really, those are the only fights I want to take, it's those two.

"Unless Canelo comes up, and he wants to fight, I'll take that fight.

"But I want to unify, I don't want to go backwards, I'm trying to get all of them, all the belts."

A fight with Canelo would no doubt be one of the if not the most lucrative of his career.

However, Smith doesn't care about any of that, as he insists he is only motivated by his legacy.

He added: “At this point, everybody would choose the Canelo fight, just because there’s money to be made there.

“But really, for my legacy, I want to be known as a great fighter, so I would like to fight Beterbiev and Bivol."

Smith is well aware of what could be in store for him in 2022, but for now his focus is solely on Johnson, who had some success of his own against Beterbiev.

He continued: "With this sport, you never know, if they’re willing to come to me and fight, I’ll take any one of them.

Those are the fights I want, but I know I gotta [sic] get past Johnson and make a statement with him.

"That’s gonna [sic] open up the doors for these big fights to happen.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...cid=entnewsntp

[Master]

OVID KO Callum Johnson out of Joe Smith Jr world title bout with Covid-19 as fellow Brit Anthony Yarde is lined up instead

ALLUM JOHNSON has been forced to withdraw from his light-heavyweight title fight with Joe Smith Jr after testing positive for Covid.

Johnson was due to challenge Smith for the WBO light heavyweight strap in New York a week on Sunday morning.

But a positive Covid test has scuppered The One's second crack at a world title.

Promoter Frank Warren told The BBC: "It's a real great shame for Callum.

"Hopefully we can get him back in, they may want to [reschedule the fight] in late spring.

"He worked really hard to get the opportunity."

Johnson, 37, could miss out on the fight altogether as the bout was a voluntary defence for Smith Jr.

But Johnson's loss could be the gain of fellow Brit Anthony Yarde, who currently ranked No1 in the WBO's 175lb rankings.

Warren said: "If Callum doesn't get his shot then Anthony Yarde is next.

"I'd love to do Joe Smith v Anthony Yarde in the UK.

"The WBO say there is a mandatory due and it's going to be Yarde. He is the number one.

"Anthony looked so good in his last fight against Lyndon Arthur. We've got him down to fight sometime in March anyway. Fingers crossed.

"We'll see what happens next week with Smith and how he comes through. Then go from there.

"I want to keep Anthony busy. We want to get the world title shot for him.

"The experience he's gained since [fighting] Sergey Kovalev stands him in good stead. He really gives Smith so many problems."

Johnson has yet to comment on his unfortunate withdrawal from his clash with Smith Jr.

The Lincolnshire-born light-heavyweight secured his second crack at a world title with three consecutive victories following his fourth-round TKO defeat to unified light-heavyweight king Artur Beterbiev four years ago.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/17244...anthony-yarde/

[Spicoli]

Shame for Callum so goes Warren ? but shame for Smith Jr. About the 4th time in last 3 fights he's had it fall thru or postponed. Wish Arum would cut to the chase and go Smith Jr v Beterbiev. Or even Bivol v Smith Jr II .