Joe Smith Jr.’s nickname is “The Common Man,” but the problem he faced Saturday in his light heavyweight title unification fight in the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden is he was fighting an incredibly special man.
Artur Beterbiev entered the fight for the IBF-WBC-WBO belts with 17 knockouts in 17 fights. He got his 18th on Saturday, but it wasn’t just his power. It was his boxing and his patience, in addition to his enormous power, that made the difference.
He dropped Smith once in the first, twice more in the second and had Smith wobbly around the ring when referee Harvey Dock stepped in to call a halt to the carnage.