BoxRec

Sources: Joe Smith Jr., Callum Johnson agree to Jan. 15 light heavyweight bout on ESPN

Joe Smith Jr. and Callum Johnson have agreed to terms for a light heavyweight title fight that will headline an ESPN show on Jan. 15 at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, sources told ESPN.

Smith (27-3, 21 KOs) was scheduled to defend his title against Umar Salamov on Oct. 30 before he was hospitalized with COVID-19. Top Rank planned to reschedule the bout, but Salamov, a native of Russia, encountered visa issues, sources said.

Instead, Smith, 32, will meet England's Johnson in a battle of imposing punchers with a penchant for brawling.

Smith, a native of Long Island, New York, won the title in April with a majority-decision victory over Maxim Vlasov. With the victory, Smith rose to No. 3 in ESPN's light heavyweight rankings.

The fight was Smith's second crack at a title after an unsuccessful bid against Dmitry Bivol. The former construction worker was lightly regarded before he stunned Andrzej Fonfara with a first-round KO in 2016 and followed up with an even bigger upset, a knockout of Bernard Hopkins in the Hall of Famer's farewell bout.

If Smith comes out on top in his first title defense, the plan is for him to fight Daniel Jacobs later in 2022, sources said. Jacobs, a former middleweight champion now campaigning at 168 pounds, would jump up to 175 pounds for the opportunity.

In the meantime, Smith will have to deal with Johnson, a 36-year-old who struggled en route to a majority-decision victory against journeyman Server Emurlaev last month.

Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs) is best known for a four-round firefight with Artur Beterbiev, ESPN's No. 1 light heavyweight, in his lone title challenge. In that 2018 bout, Johnson was floored in the opening round, only to drop the champion in the following round before he was finished in the fourth round.

What happened to him defending against Salamov?

Out of the blue but great fight. Probably will be Sky then not BT?

peter barlow wrote: ↑17 Nov 2021, 19:03 Out of the blue but great fight. Probably will be Sky then not BT?

Seeing as it’s Top Rank ESPN and will be in US most likely, yes UK should be Sky Sports.

Makings of a firefight here, hard to get excited for any fights at the moment though with the amount of cancellations knocking about! Fingers crossed.

peter barlow wrote: ↑17 Nov 2021, 19:03 Out of the blue but great fight. Probably will be Sky then not BT?

I would be shocked if Warren didn’t negotiate to get the UK rights on BT. He mentioned the other day that he had big news about Johnson.

It’s a voluntary fight after all-I doubt Sky would kick up a fuss.

fun fight

i got joe by ko

Hope Callum can catch him.

I think this is one of those fights where the poll will be 90% Joe Smith KO, but could easily go the other way.
These are two hard hitting guys and both have fairly decent chins.
What a nice surprise.

tbh, nothing on cal's recent form suggests a good shot, badly rocked by a nobody and then barely scrapes by a guy who probably couldnt even win a euro

joe smith is crude, but he's got pop, stamina, and a sturdier beard than cal

KiwiRider wrote: ↑18 Nov 2021, 01:08 I think this is one of those fights where the poll will be 90% Joe Smith KO, but could easily go the other way.
These are two hard hitting guys and both have fairly decent chins.
What a nice surprise.

did you see how badly hurt cal was two fights ago by a completely nondescript opponent brought in to be folded? and although berterbiev's obviously a good puncher, every shot of his was hurting johnson and he wiped him out pretty quickly- many other bert opponents have proven to be sturdier

im not sure cal's chin is all that good tbh, he can punch though, and a big puncher can be dangerous early against pretty much any other slugger. but i think the attributes work well here for smith, and personally i like smith a lot and hope he wins

one thing though, smith was said to be having it bad with covid, you never know what effect that can have, lots of guys are totally 100 percent fine after, but some ppl the impact lingers

this fight is gonna confuse the hell outta my posting btw because i usually call callum smith cal, and now we have cal vs smith

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑17 Nov 2021, 19:04

peter barlow wrote: ↑17 Nov 2021, 19:03 Out of the blue but great fight. Probably will be Sky then not BT?

Seeing as it’s Top Rank ESPN and will be in US most likely, yes UK should be Sky Sports.

So Frank's World champ is fighting on a Probellem show in Dubai and one of his leading light-heavyweights is gonna challenge for a world title on Sky?

All whilst he puts on Friday night prospect shows at York Hall?

I wonder why he bothers sometimes.

Should be good fight this, as long as it lasts at least.

Smith should be the favourite as he has shown he can hang at a high level.

But I just have a funny feeling that he will try to get him out of there early and get walked onto a shot. If Johnson has learned anything from the Beterbiev fight he will jump on Smith if he gets him hurt.

has joe ever been down? i know he got stopped early in his career on a broken jaw. he also had that jaw rebroke vs barrera

so he's a guy who simultaneously has a good chin and a glass jaw

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑18 Nov 2021, 01:14

KiwiRider wrote: ↑18 Nov 2021, 01:08 I think this is one of those fights where the poll will be 90% Joe Smith KO, but could easily go the other way.
These are two hard hitting guys and both have fairly decent chins.
What a nice surprise.

did you see how badly hurt cal was two fights ago by a completely nondescript opponent brought in to be folded? and although berterbiev's obviously a good puncher, every shot of his was hurting johnson and he wiped him out pretty quickly- many other bert opponents have proven to be sturdier

im not sure cal's chin is all that good tbh, he can punch though, and a big puncher can be dangerous early against pretty much any other slugger. but i think the attributes work well here for smith, and personally i like smith a lot and hope he wins

I wouldn’t read too much into that. He walked straight onto that shot. It was a huge shot that he took flush

This will be very good and entertaining fight

Not excited about that. Smith KOs him quite easily.

Manchester Hitman wrote: ↑17 Nov 2021, 20:36

peter barlow wrote: ↑17 Nov 2021, 19:03 Out of the blue but great fight. Probably will be Sky then not BT?

I would be shocked if Warren didn’t negotiate to get the UK rights on BT. He mentioned the other day that he had big news about Johnson.

It’s a voluntary fight after all-I doubt Sky would kick up a fuss.

12 months ago I’d have agreed with you but he’s had Frampton fight on ch5 for a world title and now has Sunny Edwards fighting on a Probellum show.

Let’s see if he does get it on BT. If not then I really think he’s dialling it in now for the money. If Johnson gets $400k then it’s $40k to Frank for little work.

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑18 Nov 2021, 01:12 tbh, nothing on cal's recent form suggests a good shot, badly rocked by a nobody and then barely scrapes by a guy who probably couldnt even win a euro

joe smith is crude, but he's got pop, stamina, and a sturdier beard than cal

That’s where I am too.

I think it will be a good fight though whilst it lasts and it’s one I’m looking forward to but I haven’t seen a great deal from Johnson that gives me much confidence he’ll win.

Sources: Joe Smith Jr., Callum Johnson agree to Jan. 15 light heavyweight bout on ESPN

Joe Smith Jr. and Callum Johnson have agreed to terms for a light heavyweight title fight that will headline an ESPN show on Jan. 15 at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, sources told ESPN.

Smith (27-3, 21 KOs) was scheduled to defend his title against Umar Salamov on Oct. 30 before he was hospitalized with COVID-19. Top Rank planned to reschedule the bout, but Salamov, a native of Russia, encountered visa issues, sources said.

Instead, Smith, 32, will meet England's Johnson in a battle of imposing punchers with a penchant for brawling.

Smith, a native of Long Island, New York, won the title in April with a majority-decision victory over Maxim Vlasov. With the victory, Smith rose to No. 3 in ESPN's light heavyweight rankings.

The fight was Smith's second crack at a title after an unsuccessful bid against Dmitry Bivol. The former construction worker was lightly regarded before he stunned Andrzej Fonfara with a first-round KO in 2016 and followed up with an even bigger upset, a knockout of Bernard Hopkins in the Hall of Famer's farewell bout.

If Smith comes out on top in his first title defense, the plan is for him to fight Daniel Jacobs later in 2022, sources said. Jacobs, a former middleweight champion now campaigning at 168 pounds, would jump up to 175 pounds for the opportunity.

In the meantime, Smith will have to deal with Johnson, a 36-year-old who struggled en route to a majority-decision victory against journeyman Server Emurlaev last month.

Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs) is best known for a four-round firefight with Artur Beterbiev, ESPN's No. 1 light heavyweight, in his lone title challenge. In that 2018 bout, Johnson was floored in the opening round, only to drop the champion in the following round before he was finished in the fourth round.

Beat Johnson. A couple more defended then ko Canelo

I see this as a white version of Hagler-Hearns, with Smith winning in round 3

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑18 Nov 2021, 01:14

KiwiRider wrote: ↑18 Nov 2021, 01:08 I think this is one of those fights where the poll will be 90% Joe Smith KO, but could easily go the other way.
These are two hard hitting guys and both have fairly decent chins.
What a nice surprise.

did you see how badly hurt cal was two fights ago by a completely nondescript opponent brought in to be folded? and although berterbiev's obviously a good puncher, every shot of his was hurting johnson and he wiped him out pretty quickly- many other bert opponents have proven to be sturdier

im not sure cal's chin is all that good tbh, he can punch though, and a big puncher can be dangerous early against pretty much any other slugger. but i think the attributes work well here for smith, and personally i like smith a lot and hope he wins

No I haven't seen that fight, I'll check it out in the next few days
I saw the Bert fight, and thought Callum handled a few good flush shots before he inevitably folded.
Neither of these guys, Smith and Johnson, are defence masters and 100% this fight is going to be a stoppage. I just think both guys have a chance, Smith more so because he can take a shot better. But they are both rather hittable and it will be fun while it (they) last.