Things you didn't know about Joe Smith Jr.
WBO Global titlist Callum Johnson (20-1, 14KOs) challenges WBO World light-heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr. (27-3, 21KOs) on January 15 in New York, which will be broadcast live on BT Sport in the UK.
Having never fought in the UK before and Johnson being his first British opponent, not a lot is known about the New Yorker, so BBN decided to find out some interesting facts right here:
Joe Smith Jr. was born on September 20, 1989, on the south shore of Long Island, New York, and is the oldest of eight siblings.
He first laced up a pair of boxing gloves, after moving in with his father at the age of 13, at the Atlantic Veterans Memorial Boxing Club in nearby Bellport.
Joe graduated from William Floyd High School in 2007 and was later inducted into their Sports Hall of Fame.
He had a highly successful amateur career, competing in 50 bouts in total. He was the New York Metro champion for four consecutive years – 2006-2009; the Empire State champion for three years in a row between 2006-2008; Junior Olympic champion during 2004-2006; and he became New York Golden Gloves champion in 2008 by beating Seanie Monaghan in the final.
He is married to his long-term girlfriend, Kelly Reilly, and they have a daughter together, Liana, who was born in 2008. They live along the Long Island shoreline where Joe loves to go out on the water to jet-ski, as well as spend time on his boat.
Hard-working and diligent, he began his first job at 14, stacking shelves at a Mastic Beach convenience store for just $100 per week. He later joined his father at a higher paid job for local tree service companies.
When Smith Jr. met his trainer and manager, Jerry and Phil Capobianco, he began working at Local 66 Union Laborers and said this of the opportunity: "I had nothing growing up and I was able to get a good job in the union because of boxing."
His trainer, Jerry, promised he would make him a world champion when they first met.
He later set up his own company with his father, called 'Team Smith Tree Service', which allowed him to stop working full-time and focus on his training.
He has earned several nicknames, early in his career he was dubbed 'The Beast from the East' for his one-punch KO ability; also known as 'The Irish Bomber' due to his heritage; then he was humbly dubbed as 'The Common Man' because of his occupation as a Tree Feller.
He turned pro in 2009 and debuted on Halloween night with a first-round knockout, taking just 155 seconds to record his first pro victory.
He signed to Hall of Fame promoter Joe Guardia's Star Boxing in September 2014, after 17 pro fights.
He exploded onto the world scene in 2016 after defeating highly-rated Andrzej Fonfara with a first-round stoppage, despite being a 16-1 underdog. The shock win went on to be awarded Ring Magazine's 'Upset of the Year 2018'.
In his next fight, Joe Smith Jr. famously sent Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins tumbling through the ropes into retirement in 2016 with an eighth-round KO and bacame the first boxer in history to stop the former undisputed middleweight champion.
'B-Hop' later mentored Philly fighter Jesse Hart in the hope he would get revenge through him, but Smith knocked him down in round seven to win their fight on points in January 2020.
In his first world title fight, he lost to, then 15-0, Dmitry Bivol unanimously but badly buzzed the Russian in round 10 after walking him onto a huge overhand right. Unfortunately for him, the bell rang and Bivol wobbled his way back to the corner for a rest. He later said that he rates Bivol as the best boxer he has ever faced.
In his last three fights, he has defeated top opponents wth a combined record of 96-6.
Roll of Honour
WBC International light-heavyweight title
WBO-NABO light-heavyweight title
WBO World light-heavyweight title
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