Bob Arum Wants To Match Joe Smith Jr. Against Artur Beterbiev

Top Rank boxing promoter Bob Arum is hoping to match Joe Smith Jr. and Artur Beterbiev against each other later this year.

First, both men have fights they must get through. Smith is set to fight Maxim Vlasov on February 13. The match-up is for the currently vacant WBO 175-pound championship. Smith is a big favourite going into the fight at -400. If you fancy Vlasov to win you’ll get odds of +275. Whatever you do, be sure to check the best betting sites before putting money down on this fight.

Beterbiev will make a mandatory defence of his IBF light heavyweight title in March. The pair were expected to clasg on January 30 in Moscow, Russia before the champ contracted the coronavirus.  against Germany’s Adam Deines in his next bout.

Arum says that all being well in those two fights Smith will fight Beterbiev afterwards.

“If Joe Smith wins and Beterbiev wins, that sets up a huge fight, maybe for Madison Square Garden,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “You’d sell out The Garden easy with a Smith-Beterbiev fight. That’d be a great fight. They’re both big punchers, tough guys. It’d be a fun fight.”

“Smith has another tough Russian in front of him, in Vlasov, next month,” Arum added. “If he beats him, then a Beterbiev fight with Joe Smith would be a guaranteed sellout at Madison Square Garden. Joe has a lot of fans [from Long Island], and all these union people that support him. And there are a lot of Russian people in New York. And then, as the icing on the cake, you put Berlanga on the undercard.”

Arum is of course, referring to Edgar Berlanga who is one of the brightest prospects in boxing. The heavy hitter competes at super-middleweight and has knocked all of his 16 opponents out in the first round.  

Do you agree with Bob Arum? Is Joe Smith Jr. vs. Artur Beterbiev the fight to make at 175lbs?