Joe Smith Jr. seemed to fade, the possibility of becoming a world champion seemed to be slipping away Saturday night at the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He got everything he could from Maxim Vlasov and was pushed back with his left eye closed, a cut on the forehead dripping with blood.
But Vlasov couldn’t stop Smith from standing.
Smith rallied in the championship rounds and won the vacant WBO light heavyweight championship with a majority decision over Vlasov, 115-112, 115-113, 114-114.
Two years after Smith lost a shot at a major championship, he won the belt in a fight that tested everything he had.
“It was definitely a close, tough, tough fight,” Smith said in the post-fight interview on ESPN. “I gave it to Vlasov. He was a great fighter. He put on a really great show tonight and got through it.”
With the win, Smith (27-3, 21 KOs) earns a slice of the belt in the 175-pound division and puts up a potential unification title fight against undefeated Artur Beterbiev, who has won all 16 of his pro fights via hiatus. .
At one point, it looked like Smith wouldn’t have a chance to hold onto the title at the end of the night. On lap 10, Vlasov pushed Smith back and landed with straight punches as Smith sought ways to influence the 34-year-old Russian, whose unorthodox style caused problems for Smith everywhere.
When Smith came out on the 11th, the power the Long Island, New York native carried again provided the power he needed most. According to CompuBox, Smith landed 48.9% of his powerful punches in the last two rounds and threw 113 punches in the last three minutes, 35 more than Vlasov.
Smith hurt Vlasov and had the veteran about to hit the canvas. However, just as Vlasov was about to go down, Smith hit Vlasov behind the head, wiping out the knockdown and giving the injured fighter some time to recover with just over 10 seconds left in the round. Despite the referee’s verdict, Judge Gerald Ritter gave Smith a 10-8 round, indicating that he believed the knockdown was valid.
“I think he kept his head down, and I should have gotten the knockout,” Smith said. “I think I would have had the break that lap, but he pulled it off and got to his feet.”
Earlier, in the seventh round, Smith had also injured Vlasov (45-4, 26 KO’s) in the middle of the ring, but couldn’t find the right combination to score a knockdown. Most of the night Vlasov’s speed and activity confused Smith as he seemed to be ahead.
ESPN unofficially scored the fight 115-113 in Vlasov’s favor.
“Against Joe Smith’s aggressive style, I came forward throughout the fight,” Vlasov said in a statement from Top Rank Promotions. “I was confident that I was winning and securing rounds on the bench with the judges. I never felt like I was behind at any stage of the fight.”
But the Russian did not help his case in the last two rounds. In fact, he was tied on two of the official scorecards, leading one point on the other as he entered the crucial 11th rounds.
Smith’s resilience helped him win the fight, secure his first major championship, and set up a possible all-out combat.
“I want the other belts,” said Smith. “I want the big fights out there.”