Joe Smith Jr. postponed his honeymoon to prepare for a world title fight with Maxim Vlasov. Well, now he could go into his honeymoon as a world champion.
Smith scored a razor-thin majority decision over Maxim Vlasov to take the vacant WBO light heavyweight championship Saturday night. Judges at the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, had it 114-114, 115-113, and 115-112, all in favor of the Long Island, New York native.
"She's very excited. She wanted me to come home with the belt and put my ring back on because it's been off for a few days," Smith said of his wife after winning the hard-fought decision. "So, we're going to do that, and then we're going to go on our honeymoon and have a great time."
It almost didn't have a happy ending, as Smith was stifled by Vlasov's herky-jerky movement and high work rate over the course of the fight, as he needed to dig deep and land 68 of his career-high 174 power punches landed over the final two rounds to have his hand raised.
Smith showed the urgency he needed to in the 11th round, where he pummeled Vlasov's body in a strategy he should have deployed way earlier in the fight. The same frame had Smith believing that he scored a knockdown, although the ref ruled that he had hit Vlasov behind the head and gave the Russian five minutes to recover.
Vlasov didn't use the full time, and the bell sounded on the round, with Smith delivering a solid 12th round as well.
"I believe he stuck his head down, and I should have got the knockdown on that," Smith said afterwards of that 11th round moment. "I think I would have got the stoppage that round. I believe I got the victory tonight because they seen I landed the bigger, harder shots."
Behind his blue-collar approach, the 31-year-old Smith (27-3, 21 KOs) can now look to unify titles against unified world champion Artur Beterbiev.
"I want the other belts," Smith said. "I want the big fights out there. I believe I'm going to start unifying the belts."
But first, he can enjoy his honeymoon.
Here's how the Smith-Vlasov card went.
Joe Smith Jr. vs. Maxim Vlasov fight card
- Joe Smith Jr. def. Maxim Vlasov by majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 115-112) to win the WBO light heavyweight championship
- Efe Ajagba def. Brian Howard by third-round KO; Heavyweights
- Jared Anderson def. Jeremiah Karpency via second-round TKO; Heavyweights
- Robson Conceicao def. Jesus Antonio Ahumada by seventh-round TKO; Junior Lightweights
- Albert Bell def. Manuel Rey Rojas via unanimous decision (78-74, 78-74, 78-74); Junior Lightweights
- Sonny Conto def. Waldo Cortes by first-round KO; Heavyweights
- Duke Ragan def. Charles Clark via unanimous decision (60-54, 60-54, 60-54); Featherweights
- Jeremiah Milton def. Jayvone Dafney by first-round TKO; Heavyweights