MOSCOW, May 4. Unification bout between Russian Artur Beterbiev and American Joe Smith — the junior will take place on June 18 at Madison Square Garden in New York (USA), according to the Top Rank promotion company on Twitter. Beterbiev is the owner of the World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight belts ( up to 79.4 kg), Smith holds the World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion title. The 36-year-old Beterbiev has 17 early victories in 17 fights in the professional ring. The last time he entered the ring was in December 2021, when he knocked out WBC mandatory American Marcus Brown in the ninth round. With 28 wins (22 by KO) and three losses, Smith won the WBO belt in April 2021, defeating the Russian Maxim Vlasov by decision of the judges. The 32-year-old Smith suffered his last defeat in March 2019 from a boxer from Russia, Dmitry Bivol, who owns the belt of the World Boxing Association with the prefix «super».
