At this point, WBO light heavyweight titleholder Joe Smith Jr. figures him and his opponent might as well be placed in bubble wrap to make sure nothing happens between now and fight night.
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on Smith’s first title defense, which is scheduled to be against late replacement Steve Geffrard in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Saturday (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
Because of the coronavirus, Smith has not fought since April 10, 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he eked out a majority decision in an action-packed battle against Maxim Vlasov to claim the vacant 175-pound that Canelo Alvarez relinquished. The fight had been delayed from Feb. 13 to April because Vlasov tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the weigh-in. That was far from Smith’s last issue with COVID-19.
After Smith won the title, his first defense was scheduled to be against mandatory challenger Umar Salamov on Oct. 30 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. But that fight was also postponed when Smith became ill with COVID-19.
The fight was rescheduled for Saturday, but Salamov’s visa issues kept him from fighting in the United States. So, while Salamov wound up getting a shot at WBA titlist Dmitry Bivol in a one-sided loss on Dec. 11 in their native Russia, Smith was instead lined up to face British banger Callum Johnson, a former world title challenger, who traded knockdowns in a fourth-round knockout loss challenging Artur Beterbiev for the IBF title in 2018.
In the view of many, a fight between Smith and Johnson was far more attractive than one against Salamov, mainly because of the performance Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs), 36, turned in against Beterbiev, a foe Smith has designs on eventually facing to unify titles. He figured he could make a good fight with Johnson and have fans and media compare his performance against Johnson to Beterbiev’s.
But last Thursday Johnson was ruled out of the bout when he tested positive for COVID-19 – the third time Smith has had a fight impacted by the coronavirus. Johnson’s diagnosis paved the way for Geffrard after Star Boxing’s Joe DeGuardia, Smith’s co-promoter, said about a dozen others turned down the fight for various reasons.
