Joe Smith Jr. Edges Maxim Vlasov to win Light Heavyweight Title
Joe Smith Jr., the common man with the
common name, finally reached boxing’s apex. Smith used a furious late rally
to edge Maxim Vlasov by majority decision and win the vacant WBO light
heavyweight world title Saturday evening at Osage Casino in Tulsa,
Oklahoma. The scorecards — 114-114, 115-113 and 115-112 — represented the
nip-and-tuck nature of the bout.
Smith (27-3, 21 KOs), from Long Island, New York, swept the last two rounds
on the cards to pull out the victory and joins promotional stablemate Jamel
Herring as a Long Island-born world champion. He now sets his sights on the
division’s other champions, including WBC/IBF king Artur Beterbiev.
Vlasov (45-4, 26 KOs), from Samara Russia, saw his three-bout winning
streak come to an end.
Smith said, “It’s a great feeling. It was definitely a close, tough fight.
I give it to Vlasov. Great fighter. He really put on a great show tonight
and toughed it out. I believe that round where I hurt him there… I believe
he had his head down, and I should’ve got the knockout. I think I would’ve
got the stoppage in {the 11th} round, but he pulled it off and made it out
on his feet. I believe I got the victory tonight because they saw I landed
the harder shots. He landed a lot of punches. It was a great fight.
“I want the other belts. I want the big fights out there. Now I gotta get
back in the gym and keep working on my technique and stuff. I believe I’m
going to start unifying belts.”
Vlasov disagrees with Smith’s assessment of the fight and believes the
world title should be going home to Russia.
“This was a very hard-fought, competitive fight,” Vlasov said. “I thought I
was winning rounds and was well ahead. Against the aggressive style of Joe
Smith, I came forward the entire fight. I felt confident I was winning and
was securing rounds in the bank with the judges. I never felt that I was
behind at any stage of the fight. This was my opportunity to show the world
I was a world champion, and I did that, and Joe Smith knows I did that.”
*Ajagba Obliterates Howard*
Efe Ajagba (15-0, 12 KOs) just crashed the heavyweight contender parade.
The 2016 Nigerian Olympian sent Brian Howard into another orbit with a
crunching right hand. Howard twisted, fell face first, and the bout was
immediately stopped. Ajagba had not fought since last September’s decision
win over Jonathan Rice, but he re-established his place among the world’s
top young heavyweights. At 26 years old, time is on his side.
Ajagba said, “I felt good. I tried to pick the punches, use the jab. This
guy is very slick sometimes. I tried to do the job. He was shaky, so when I
went back to the corner after the first round, my coach told me to take my
time, start with the body, leave the head.
“I trained for this fight, took my time, started with my boxing foundation,
and came back strong. This camp was the best one for me, the best camp ever
in my boxing career.
“It’s my time to shine, so I’m coming for the heavyweights.”
*In undercard bouts: Heavyweight: **Jared Anderson (9-0, 9 KOs) KO
2 Jeremiah Karpency (16-3-1, 6 KOs), :34. *Anderson, the 21-year-old
prodigy from Toledo, added another speedy knockout to his highlight reel,
this time using a body attack to end things early. He knocked down Karpency
with a body blow at the end of the first round, then ended things with
another right hand to the body early in the second round.
Anderson said, “I knew he was going to find a spot to fall. I respect him
for getting in there and showing up today. It’s a man’s sport. I’m just
grateful to be here, thankful for the opportunity.
“I {saw} the shot. His hands kept going up. I kept throwing my jab, looking
for openings, feinting, moving around the ring, and it just came. It was a
good shot, and he didn’t want to get back up.
“Everybody who says they’re the biggest and the baddest, come see ‘Big
‘Baby’ then.
“I want to thank Toledo, my city. A lot of them came out to Oklahoma, and I
wanted to put on a show for them. I can’t wait for what is next.
*Junior Lightweight: **Albert Bell (18-0, 5 KOs) UD 8 Manuel Rey
Rojas (20-5, 6 KOs). Scores: 78-74 3x.* Toledo’s Bell used his length and
reach to keep the shorter Rojas at bay and ultimately cruised to a
one-sided decision. Bell, who outlanded Rojas 114-94, is ranked in the top
15 by two of the major sanctioning organizations.
*Junior Lightweight: **Robson Conceicao (16-0, 8 KOs) TKO 7 Jesus Antonio
Ahumada (17-4 11 KOs), 1:20*. 2016 Olympic gold medalist Conceicao, from
Bahia, Brazil, put forth a workmanlike performance and beat down Mexican
veteran Ahumada. After a knockdown in the seventh, referee Gary Ritter saw
enough and saved Ahumada from further carnage.
*Heavyweight: **Trey Lippe Morrison (17-0, 17 KOs) TKO 3 Jason Bergman
(2-3, 2 KOs), 1:27.* Lippe Morrison, son of the late heavyweight Tommy
Morrison, returned from a nearly two-year layoff and stopped veteran
Bergman in a crowd-pleasing slugfest. Bergman appeared to knock down
Morrison in the first, but the referee missed the knockdown call. In the
third, Bergman rolled his ankle and could continue, and Morrison was
awarded the TKO victory.
*Featherweight: *Duke Ragan (4-0, 1 KO) UD 6 Charles Clark (3-7,-1 1 KO).
Scores: 60-54 3x. In his first fight away from the confines of the MGM
Grand Las Vegas Bubble, Cincinnati’s Ragan outboxed Clark and won every
round on all three judges’ scorecards. Through four pro bouts, Ragan has
yet to lose a round.
*Heavyweight: **Jeremiah Milton (3-0, 3 KOs) TKO 1 Jayvone Dafney (2-3, 2
KOs), 1:19.* Tulsa native Milton had a successful homecoming, icing Dafney
in the opening round with a right hand as Daffney was backed up against the
ropes. A dazed Dafney could not respond, and the referee called the bout
off.
*Heavyweight: **Sonny Conto (7-0, 6 KOs) KO 1 Waldo Cortes (6-4, 3 KO),
1:41*. Welcome back, Sonny! In his first fight in 15 months, South
Philadelphia native Conto put Cortes down for the 10-count with a sweeping
right hand. Conto has now won three straight by first-round stoppage.
