Joe Smith Jr. seemed to be fading, the possibility of becoming a world champion apparently slipping on Saturday night at Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He got everything he could from Maxim Vlasov and was pushed back with his left eye closed, with a cut on his forehead dripping blood.
But Vlasov could not stop Smith from standing.
Smith rallied in the championship rounds and won the vacant WBO light heavyweight championship with a majority decision over Vlasov, 115-112, 115-113, 114-114.
Two years after Smith lost the chance of a major championship, he won the belt in a fight that tested everything he had.
“It was definitely a close, tough, tough fight,” Smith said in the post-fight interview on ESPN. “I gave it to Vlasov. He was a great fighter. He really put on a great show tonight and it lasted.”
With the victory, Smith (27-3, 21 KOs) wins part of the belt in the 175 kg division and establishes a potential fight for the unification title against the undefeated Artur Beterbiev, who won all 16 professional fights by stopping. .
At one point, it looked like Smith wouldn’t have a chance to hold the title at the end of the night. In the 10th round, Vlasov pushed Smith back, landing straight shots, while Smith looked for ways to affect the 34-year-old Russian, whose unorthodox style gave Smith problems all the time. .
When Smith came out in the 11th, the power that carried Long Island, New York, the native, gave back once when he needed it most. According to CompuBox, Smith got 48.9% of his power shots in the last two rounds and threw 113 shots in the last three minutes, 35 more than Vlasov.
Smith injured Vlasov and had the veteran about to hit the canvas. However, just as Vlasov was about to descend, Smith struck Vlasov in the back of the head, which canceled out the blow and gave the wounded fighter some time to recover, with just over 10 seconds left. tour. Despite the referee’s decision, Judge Gerald Ritter gave Smith a 10-8 round, indicating that he believed the offense was valid.
“I think his head was down and I should have knocked out,” Smith said. “I think I would have stopped in that round, but he took it out and got it on its feet.”
Earlier in the seventh round, Smith also injured Vlasov (45-4, 26 KOs) in the middle of the ring, but failed to find the right combination to score a knockdown. Most of the night, Vlasov’s speed and activity stunned Smith as he appeared to be in front.
ESPN unofficially marked the 115-113 fight in favor of Vlasov.
“Against Joe Smith’s aggressive style, I presented the whole fight,” Vlasov said in a statement issued by Top Rank Promotions. “I felt confident that I was winning and I secured rounds in the bench with the judges. I never felt that I was behind at any stage of the fight.”
But the Russian has not helped his cause in the last two rounds. In fact, he was tied on two of the official scorecards and led with one point on the other, while entering the 11th round pivot.
Smith’s resistance helped him win the fight, secure his first major championship and stage a potential unification attack.
“I want the other belts,” Smith said. “I want the big fights over there.”