Courtesy of Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Inside the boxing ring, where he’s amassed a 26–3 record and KO’d 21 foes, Joe Smith Jr. is a laborer. He doesn’t dance, doesn’t dodge; his style is plow forward, welcome exchanges and deploy heavy hands to break down opponents. He will next fight on Saturday, against Maxim Vlasov for the WBO light heavyweight crown, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Outside the boxing ring, Joe Smith Jr. is also, well, a laborer. Like an actual laborer—a boxing throwback, a man with bricks in his hands who also holds actual bricks in his hand.