With 17 professional fights and 17 knockouts, Artur Beterbiev is an absolute wrecking machine who has produced nothing but havoc for his opponents. That’s what an ambitious Joe Smith Jr. (28-3, 22 KOs) will be up against Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, where he’ll put his own WBO championship against Beterbiev’s WBC/IBF straps in a light heavyweight title unification clash.
With the stakes being incredibly high, DAZN listed the keys to victory for each fighter.
Joe Smith Jr.'s keys to victory
Commit to the body early with chopping shots
Artur Beterbiev is one of the best forward-fighting juggernauts that boxing has today. Depositing shots to the body early could be a way to impede the undefeated unified champion’s forward progress. The only caveat of doing so is Beterbiev is a savvy counterpuncher, so Smith would be wise to keep his punches as compact as possible. While he has a reach advantage, Smith can’t afford to miss wildly and get blasted the way 17 other opponents of Beterbiev have.
Beat Beterbiev to the punch early with the power jab
At 37, Beterbiev needs time to get acclimated to each opponent. Five years his junior, Smith needs a quick start. If — and this is a big if — Smith could somehow make Beterbiev respect his power, then this title unification tilt might really go into “Deep Waters” as the bill's theme has been promotion all along. Smith could possibly accomplish that quick start by beating Beterbiev to the punch. Go back and watch Smith’s ninth-round TKO of Eleider Alvarez in August 2020. Smith softened him up by beating him to the punch, especially with his power jab, and that paved the way for him to eventually chop the Colombian fighter down. Nobody has been able to do that to Beterbiev through 17 pro fights but a blue-collar Smith should be game to try. And that power jab will be key toward that lofty goal.
Anticipate, avoid big right hand especially on the countering end
This one is easier said than done, but Smith has to put Beterbiev in a place of discomfort enough that the unified champ can’t load up on his right hand. That especially serves true on the counterpunch end as Beterbiev has a penchant for timing fighters aptly and responding with that compact counterpunch that ends their nights. Smith can resort to the aforementioned body shots and power jabs to hinder Beterbiev’s forward fighting but must still be vigilant of that clubbing right hand, which Beterbiev keeps short but detonates with devastating results.
Artur Beterbiev's keys to victory
Get off to a quicker start, assert power early
At this point in his career, Beterbiev likes to get warmed up and in rhythm during early rounds of a fight. With so much on the line here, a quicker start by making Smith feel his power early could possibly be the key to Beterbiev adding the WBO hardware to his name. It would go against the grain of what the 37-year-old has demonstrated his last few fights.
Blast Smith off the clinch
Once Beterbiev’s engine gets revving, he’s going to forward-fight. But that doesn’t mean that he can’t slow things down from time to time with the clinch, making sure to fire and connect on compact hooks to Smith’s temple each time. Those short shots have cumulative effects and could slow Smith down enough to lower his chopping punch volume and have him ripe for the picking with a knockout blow.
Counter Smith’s chopping shots
You put two 175-pound sluggers in the ring with three world titles at stake and expect nothing short of a destructive fire fight. That being said, both have boxing ability and skills, especially Beterbiev. Smith has a tendency for often going for broke with his lunging lefts and rights and that could play right into Beterbiev’s counterpunching wheelhouse, especially with that aforementioned big right hand. If he can bait Smith’s often wild chopping punching style in, Beterbiev can time the New Yorker on a KO shot that would spell lights out. Dmitry Bivol’s WBA title would then represent the missing link to undisputed glory.