It looks like Joe Smith Jr. fading, and the possibility that he could be a world champion slipping away Saturday night at the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He gets everything he could handle from Maxim Vlasov and is pushed back with his left eye closed, a cut to the forehead dripping blood.
But Vlasov could not stop Smith from staying on his feet.
Smith rallied in the championship round 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 chance 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 warrior. He really put on a great show tonight and ran it. ‘
With the win, Smith (27-3, 21 KOs) earned a share of the belt in the 175-pound division and set up a potential one-on-one match against unbeaten Artur Beterbiev, who won all 16 of his pro fights by strike has .
At one point, it seemed like Smith would not have the chance to retain the title at the end of the night. In the 10th round, Vlasov pushed Smith backwards and hit straight as Smith looked for ways to influence the 34-year-old Russian, whose unorthodox style consistently gave Smith trouble.
When Smith came out in the 11th, the power that gave birth to Long Island, New York, delivered again when he needed it most. According to CompuBox, Smith landed 48.9% of his power shots in the last two rounds and threw 113 strokes in the last three minutes, 35 more than Vlasov.
Smith hurt Vlasov and had the veteran on the verge of hitting the canvas. Just when Vlasov was about to go down, Smith hit Vlasov behind the head, which nullified the knock down and gave the injured fighter some time to recover with a little over ten seconds left in the round. Despite the referee’s ruling, Judge Gerald Ritter gave Smith a round of 10-8, indicating that he believed the result was valid.
“I believe he had his head down, and I should have had the knockout blow,” Smith said. “I think I would have had the round, but he pulled it off and made it to his feet.”
Earlier, in the seventh round, Smith also injured Vlasov (45-4, 26 KOs) in the middle of the ring, but could not find the right combination to score a knockout. Most of the night, Vlasov’s speed and activity hampered Smith when he was apparently ahead.
ESPN unofficially recorded the fight 115-113 in Vlasov’s favor.
“Against the aggressive style of Joe Smith, I brought the whole battle to the fore,” Vlasov said in a statement issued by Top Rank Promotions. “I felt confident that I was winning and was securing rounds in the bench with the judges. I never felt like I was behind at any stage of the fight.”
But the Russian has not helped his case in the last two rounds. In fact, he was tied to two of the official scorecards and was leading by one point on the other one as he entered the crucial eleventh rounds.
Smith’s resilience helped him win the fight, secure his first major championship and set up a potential singles match.
“I want the other belts,” Smith said. “I want the big fights out there.”