Jesse Hart vs. Joe Smith Jr. - January 11, 2020

[Ruthless-RKO]

Press Release

Grudge Match: Jesse Hart-Joe Smith Jr. to Clash in Light Heavyweight Showdown at Hard Rock Atlantic City January 11 Live on ESPN

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (Nov. 19, 2019) — This one is personal. Jesse “Hollywood” Hart, born and bred in Philadelphia, will take on Joe Smith Jr. Saturday, Jan. 11 from Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in the 10-round main event, which will kick off the 2020 Top Rank on ESPN schedule.

It was Smith, the union construction worker from Long Island, who knocked Philadelphia legend Bernard Hopkins through the ropes and into retirement in December 2016. For Hart, who considers Hopkins a mentor, this fight is more than a step towards a world title shot.

ESPN and ESPN Deportes will televise Hart-Smith Jr. and a co-feature beginning at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, with undercard action slated for ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Star Boxing, tickets priced at $100, $60, $40 and $25 (not including applicable fees go on sale Friday, Nov. 22 at 10 a.m. ET and can be purchased by visiting www.ticketmaster.com and www.hardrockhotelatlanticcity.com.

“When you have two fighters who can punch like heck, anything can happen,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “We believe Jesse Hart has everything it takes to become a world champion, but Joe Smith Jr. can turn the lights out at any moment. This is a sensational main event to kick off the Top Rank schedule in 2020.”

“This is personal. Bernard inspired me to be what I became,” Hart said. “I wouldn’t be right if didn’t avenge that defeat. I can’t move forward unless I beat him. This is a Philly thing. It’s more personal than business for me. I want a world title shot at light heavyweight, but I have to get through this guy first.”

“I am back in the gym and feel great,” Smith said. “I am focused and ready to bring everything I have. Jesse Hart might want to make this personal, but I didn’t even know who he was before this fight was brought up. I am ready for this. It is going to be a great night.”

“I look forward to a thrilling, fan-friendly fight in Atlantic City on ESPN Jan. 11,” said Star Boxing CEO Joe DeGuardia, Smith’s promoter. “Jesse Hart is Philly tough, but I love watching Joe Smith Jr. fight as his amazing punching power always puts him 10 seconds away from a KO win. It will be a rocking night at the Hard Rock Hotel.”

Hart (26-2, 21 KOs) is making his triumphant return to Atlantic City, where he is 7-0 with 7 knockouts. He twice challenged for the super middleweight world title previously held by Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, but he came up short via a pair of close decision defeats. Following the second Ramirez loss in December 2018, Hart moved up to the light heavyweight ranks and announced his arrival with a 10-round decision victory over Sullivan Barrera on the Tyson Fury-Tom Schwarz undercard.

Smith (24-3, 20 KOs) was boxing’s “Cinderella Man” in 2016, upsetting Andrzej Fonfara via first-round TKO to earn the shot at Hopkins. He proved the Fonfara win was no fluke, as he bullied Hopkins around the ring before a combination knocked him through the ropes. Smith is coming off a decision loss to WBA light heavyweight world champion Dmitry Bivol, although he buzzed Bivol on several occasions in the championship rounds.

For more information, visit: www.toprank.com, www.espn.com/boxing; Facebook: facebook.com/trboxing; Twitter: twitter.com/trboxing.

Use the hashtag #HartSmith to join the conversation on social media.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Top Rank
Evan Korn: 516-510-6014 / [email protected]
Gardy López: 787-246-3668 / [email protected]

Star Boxing
Tony Palmieri: [email protected]

ESPN
Santa Brito: 646-547-5602 / [email protected]
Ardi Dwornik: 646-547-5612 / [email protected]

[Ruthless-RKO]

I like Jesse Hart. I thought he deserved at least one win against Zurdo..

Good fight this.

[Ron C]

2 very durable mother effers. Jesse Hart vs. Zurdo 1 & 2 were dog fights. Jesse Hart vs. Joe Smith will probably be another dog fight. Both can take a good punch and both can land a good punch as well. This is exciting

[Cent0089]

good fight. Winner could get a title shot

[jewboypgh]

I think its a great fight. like both guys but i think the new yorker will get beat up most of the fight
but KO Hart late in the fight. like Hart and remember his Dad well as a fighter. I think Hart might be
just a little light for light heavyweight.

[Ruthless-RKO]

good fight. Winner could get a title shot

Winner SHOULD get a title shot..

I know Smith recently had one..

[Cent0089]

good fight. Winner could get a title shot

Winner SHOULD get a title shot..

I know Smith recently had one..

Sorry, my english is not great

[Ruthless-RKO]

Winner SHOULD get a title shot..

I know Smith recently had one..

Sorry, my english is not great

Wasn't knocking your English. Just re-phrasing it.

[Cent0089]

Sorry, my english is not great

Wasn't knocking your English. Just re-phrasing it.

Yeah, ive must still gooogling for difference between could and should

[JxhDel.]

Seeing what Hart did against Barrera, Smith is going to get outclassed too.

[diddy]

Hart wins.

[brilo33]

hart is by far the better boxer, but joe is tough as anthing and has power , and has improved as a fighter, going smith ko

[DrDuke]

Hart will outbox Smith handily.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[KiwiRider]

2 very durable mother effers. Jesse Hart vs. Zurdo 1 & 2 were dog fights. Jesse Hart vs. Joe Smith will probably be another dog fight. Both can take a good punch and both can land a good punch as well. This is exciting

X2
Joe Jr fought Barrera with a broken jaw for half the fight, that is one tough SOB.
Hart is a gutsy guy as well.
As far as levels go, this is some fantastic matchmaking.
I'm going for Hart but either could pull a stoppage out at any time.
Bring it on!

[gilgamesh]

Solid matchup. Almost certain to be an action fight. One where you could see both guys rocking the other too or at least landing the kinda thudding shots that would normally hurt a guy.

[margaret thatcher]

Hart should beat him up

[Ruthless-RKO]

Press Release

Rob “Bravo” Brant’s quest to regain a world title will begin on the Boardwalk. Brant, a former middleweight world champion, will make his ring return against former super middleweight world title challenger Habib “Wild Hurricane” Ahmed Saturday, Jan 11 as the co-feature to the Jesse Hart-Joe Smith Jr. main event at Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena (ESPN & streaming on the ESPN App (Spanish), 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).

Brant is fighting for the first time losing his belt via second-round stoppage to Ryota Murata, the man he upset to win the WBA middleweight title in October 2018. Following the Murata defeat, Brant enlisted the services of trainer/manager Brian “BoMac” McIntyre and has been training alongside pound-for-pound king Terence “Bud” Crawford, WBO junior lightweight world champion Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring and former junior welterweight world champion Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker.

“I am excited to be back fighting under the Top Rank banner with a new team,” Brant said. “Training in Colorado Springs has shown me what it’s like to work with a coaching staff that have mastered their craft. I am expecting a tough fight with Ahmed, as he has proven to be a dangerous Ghanaian fighter. I’m confident my team will train me to showcase my talent. There hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t thought about regaining my title. None of that happens until I conquer the task at hand. I will reign again as a world champion.”

“This is a great opportunity to prove I am a middleweight to watch,” Ahmed said. “Super middleweight was not my natural weight, and I feel fresher and more powerful since moving down in weight. Rob Brant and his team made the wrong choice for a comeback opponent. I am coming to shock the boxing world and earn another world title shot.”

Brant (25-2, 17 KOs), from St. Paul, Minn., authored one of the biggest upsets of 2018 when he bested Murata over 12 scintillating rounds in Las Vegas. He threw 1,262 punches that evening and followed up his title-winning effort with a dominant 11th-round TKO over Khasan Baysangurov in Hinckley, Minn. In July, he traveled to Osaka, Japan, and Murata flipped the script, engaging in a toe-to-toe battle that lasted 5 minutes, 34 seconds. Murata landed 64 power punches in the second round before referee Luis Pabon stopped the bout.

Ahmed (27-1-1, 18 KOs), from Accra, Ghana, is best known for his February 2018 title challenge against Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, which ended via sixth-round TKO defeat. He moved down to middleweight in May, notching a shutout eight-round decision over Juan De Angel in Biloxi, Miss. Ahmed has been training in Miami recently and has sparred with the likes of former world champion Andre Dirrell.

The ESPN+ undercard stream, which begins at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, will include the following bouts:

The fighting Adorno brothers will once again appear on the same undercard. Older brother Joseph “Blessed Hands” Adorno (14-0, 12 KOs) will face Hector Garcia (14-7-3, 8 KOs) in an eight-round lightweight bout, while 18-year-old Jeremy “Magic Hands” Adorno (3-0, 1 KO) will battle Artrimus Sartor (4-3, 1 KO) in a four-rounder at super bantamweight.

South Jersey native Chris “Sandman” Thomas (13-1-1, 8 KOs) will fight for the sixth time as a pro in Atlantic City versus Samir Barbosa (37-16-3, 26 KOs) in a six-rounder at super middleweight.

Shinard Bunch (4-1, 4 KOs), the fighting pride of Trenton, N.J., will take on Dennis Okoth (4-2-1, 2 KOs) in a six-round welterweight tilt. Bunch’s only defeat came via close decision in August to unbeaten prospect Paul Kroll.

Heavyweight prospect Sonny “The Bronco” Conto (5-0, 4 KOs), who hails from South Philadelphia, will make his Atlantic City debut in a four-rounder against an opponent to be named.

Xander Zayas (2-0, 2 KOs), the 17-year-old welterweight fresh off a first-round TKO Nov. 30 in Las Vegas, will see action in a four-rounder against Antonio Duarte (2-2, 0 KOs). Zayas, a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, won 11 national amateur titles before signing a pro contract with Top Rank at the age of 16.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Star Boxing, tickets priced at $100, $60, $40 and $25 (not including applicable fees) are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting www.ticketmaster.com and www.hardrockhotelatlanticcity.com.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Rob Brant withdraws from Jan. fight vs. Habib Ahmed with torn biceps

Just a few days after Top Rank announced that former middleweight world titlist Rob Brant would face former super middleweight world title challenger Habib "Wild Hurricane" Ahmed in the co-feature of its Jan. 11 ESPN card, Brant withdrew Monday because of torn biceps.

With Brant out and the fight off, Top Rank announced that Steve Nelson would face Cem Kilic in a 10-round match between undefeated super middleweights in place of Brant-Ahmed on the card headlined by a light heavyweight bout between contenders Jesse Hart and Joe Smith Jr.

The show will take place at Etess Arena at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey (ESPN and ESPN Deportes, 10 p.m. ET, with preliminary bouts streaming on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET).

Nelson and Kilic, who will square off for a vacant regional title, were originally scheduled to meet on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York in a preliminary bout on the undercard of Terence Crawford's mandatory welterweight title defense against "Mean Machine" Egidijus Kavaliauskas, but the fight was moved to replace Brant-Ahmed.

Nelson (15-0, 12 KOs), 31, who like Crawford is from Omaha, Nebraska, and trained by Brian McIntyre, is excited to have a bigger spotlight with the fight higher up on the televised card.

"This is one of those moments. When this opportunity presented itself, I knew I had to take it," said Nelson, a 2012 U.S. Olympic alternate. "I compare this to when Terence Crawford got the late call to fight Breidis Prescott on HBO. He took advantage of that opportunity, and I am going to take advantage of the ESPN spotlight."

The Los Angeles-based Germany native, Kilic (14-0, 9 KOs), 25, was also happy with the unexpected turn of events.

"While I'm disappointed not to fight on the Dec. 14 card, I am beyond excited to showcase my talent to an even bigger audience just four weeks later on ESPN," Kilic said. "I have been working hard in Florida with [trainer] Buddy McGirt so all sports fans can see the best Cem Kilic on fight night."

[jewboypgh]

great fight

[Ruthless-RKO]

[margaret thatcher]

Smith is gonna get battered

[Ruthless-RKO]

Gonna be a good fight this.

[punchoutsb]

I like Joe. I think Hart likely takes a decision but I'm hoping Joe gets the stoppage.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Is the main event on the app?