The winner of the Eleider Alvarez and Michael Seals winner could face Joe Smith Jr. for vacant title.
The winner of the Eleider Alvarez-Michael Seals light heavyweight bout on Saturday could fight for title as early as his next fight.
Alvarez’s co-promoter, Yvon Michel of GYM, said in a recent interview that his charge could face Long Islander Joe Smith Jr., who is coming off a split decision win over Jesse Hart, for the vacant WBO 175-pound title. Of course, Alvarez must first beat hard hitting Michael Seals at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York. Alvarez is also promoted by Top Rank.
“With a convincing win over Seals, Eleider can reclaim his world title in his next bout,” Michel told Radio-Canada. “It’s understood that we can challenge the American Joe Smith for the vacant WBO light heavyweight title.”
Alvarez, a Columbian who lives and trains in Montreal, has a bit of history with the WBO strap.
The WBO belt was vacated by Canelo Alvarez after he wrested it from Sergey Kovalev in November by 11th-round knockout. It was the same belt that Alvarez (24-1, 12 KOs) had won in 2018, when he knocked out Kovalev in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Alvarez lost the belt several months later in the rematch, which Kovalev won by a relatively comfortable decision.
Michel has no illusions about Saturday’s bout. A loss to Seals (24-2, 18 KOs) would be a major step back for Alvarez.
“I’m very confident in Eleider’s skills and his team,” Michel said. “That doesn’t worry me at all. This fight is a turning point in his career. If he loses to Seals, he’ll join the rest of the contenders. Climbing back up to world-class status will be relatively difficult.”
Top Rank/ESPN will have showcased consequential light heavyweight bouts on back-to-back weekends. On Jan. 11, Smith defeated Jesse Hart by a split decision that all but one judge saw as a clear victory. Top Rank has a deep talent pool at 175. The company also handles light heavyweight titleholder Artur Beterbiev and former titleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk, as well as former super middleweight titleholder Gilberto Ramirez.
Claressa Shields’ ability to win titles in three divisions in only 10 fights is historic.
GOOD
One criticism of women’s boxing I hear a lot is that the talent pool isn’t deep. And that problem is particularly prevalent at the higher weights, beginning in the divisions in which Claressa Shields does her thing.
I would respond to that by saying that the depth of talent has improved over the past decade. And I would add that there are a number of excellent fighters at the top.
Those are the opponents Shields has dominated in her short career, including Ivana Habazin on Friday night in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Shields (10-0, 2 KOs) overwhelemed Habazin (20-4, 7 KOs) to win a near-shutout decision and two vacant junior middleweight titles. That gives her major belts in three divisions in only 10 fights, which is a record regardless of gender. Vasiliy Lomachenko and Kosei Tanaka turned the trick in 12 fights.
The achievement is remarkable. The two-time Olympic champion pursued the best possible opponents from day one and has been nothing short of spectacular.
The question now: Is there anyone who can give Shields a challenge?
The obvious answer would be Cecilia Braekhus, the unbeaten 38-year-old star from Norway who has said she wants to fight Shields. The American would have a natural size advantage – Braekhus is a welterweight – but neither fighter is a big puncher, which means the better boxer probably would win.
Let’s hope it happens. Shields needs a next-level challenge. And women’s boxing needs its superfight.
BAD
Jesse Hart (left) said he fought Joe Smith Jr. with an injured right hand. Mikey Williams / Top Rank
I hate when fighters make excuses – even when they have some legitimacy.
Jesse Hart said after he lost a split decision to Joe Smith Jr. on Saturday night in Atlantic City that he fought with an injured right hand. The orthodox boxer said he suffered the injury in his previous fight, a victory over Sullivan Barrera in June, and aggravated it both during training and early in the fight Saturday.
I’ll take Hart’s word for it. His hand bothered him. And I understand a fighter’s instinct is to explain if he believes an unusual factor played a role in a poor performance.
I also want to give Hart some credit for the manner in which he couched post-fight comments he made to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
He said: “I don’t want to make no excuses because Joe fought a great fight. I hurt the hand in my last sparring session and thought I could overcome that. Credit to Joe for doing for what he had to do.”
Hart might not have wanted to make an excuse but he did, which diminishes Smith’s important accomplishment.
Hart chose to fight with a tender hand. It didn’t work out. I wish he had left it at that.
WORSE
Smith (right) dominated Hart but one judge scored the fight for Hart. Mikey Williams / Top Rank
One problem with a bad scorecard is that it can permanently give the wrong impression of a fight. Smith handled Hart easily yet had to settle for a split-decision victory because of a baffling card.
Joseph Pasquale and Eugene Grant scored the fight 98-91 and 97-92, respectively. That reflects what happened in the ring. James Kinney somehow had Hart winning 95-94.
I always ask myself when I see a scorecard that seems out of line: Is there a way it can be justified? For example, maybe several rounds could’ve gone either way. Or maybe a judge rewards one style over another, which can be legitimate sometimes.
In this case, I couldn’t come up with a logical reason to score the fight for Hart. Smith pushed the action from beginning to end. He threw more punches and landed more punches than Hart, including a big edge in power shots, according to both the eye and CompuBox. And Smith put Hart down.
The only edge that Hart had was in jabs and neither fighter threw many of those. The closest the fight should’ve been scored if you give Hart every benefit of the doubt was 96-93 in Smith’s favor. 95-94 – six rounds to four – for Hart is outrageous.
I won’t call for Kinney to be banished from boxing, as Bob Arum, the promoter of both fighters, did.
“That judge should be banned from ever scoring a fight,” Arum said. “He should be investigated and banned. And I promote Hart! I mean, s—, how can you ever score that fight for Jesse Hart? I mean, it’s not even an argument.”
I agree with the investigation part. Kinney has some explaining to do.
Joe Smith and Jesse Hart are set to meet in an important light heavyweight bout for both fighters Saturday in Atlantic City.
Joe Smith, laborer by day and prize fighter when possible, sells himself as the common man. But there’s nothing common about how Jesse Hart sees him. Smith has become a cause, a rallying cry for Hart to avenge a loss suffered by a man who has always been his mentor.
Hart remembers the night when Smith knocked Bernard Hopkins out of the ring more than three years ago in Los Angeles. Smith made Hopkins look like an old man, which of course he was. Hopkins was 51. Yet the memory still haunts Hart, who intends to exorcise it in a light heavyweight fight Saturday night in Atlantic City on ESPN.
Hart says the fight isn’t about money, or a possible shot at a major belt, or any of the other usual motivations. It’s strictly personal, he says. It’s about family, he says. It also about north Philadelphia, Hopkin’s home.
Smith (24-3, 20 KOs) hears Hart (26-2, 21 KOs) and tries to understand. But he is also quick to remind Hart that every fight is personal. Your nose gets broken. Your blood is spilled. That’s about as personal as it gets.
“It’s always personal with me as well,’’ Smith said this week in a conference call. “Personal for me, and I’m also fighting for my family and other things.’’
Smith goes into the fight without any evident trepidation about facing a hyper-motivated Hart. An overly-emotional Hart might walk right into the same power that knocked Hopkins through the ropes and onto the floor in an eighth-round stoppage Dec. 17, 2016 at the Forum.
For Smith, the motivation is business-like. Hart represents an opportunity for him to get beyond a unanimous decision loss to Dmitry Bivol on March 9. He also lost to Sullivan Barrera on July 15, 2017 in his first fight after the Hopkins’ stunner.
“Yeah, I have to get past Jesse Hart on Saturday night,’’ Smith said. “You know, I’m hoping to stay busy this year. I want to fight a few times. I want to make 2020 my year. I’m really looking forward to it.’’
Hart, a former super middleweight fighting at light heavy for only the second time, has other ideas. He hopes that he can make Smith regret it.
“I want to take Joe to that Ali-Frazier III type of knock-down, drag-out fight,’’ Hart said during the conference call. “Where Ali said it was the closest he was to death. I want to see if he quits then. That’s how far I want to push Joe. I want to stay in there, and I want to see where it’s at. I wanna see if he’s going to quit then with me.
“I know what I’m looking to do. I know I’m not looking to quit that night under no circumstances.’’
For Hopkins, it was an ignominious ending to an otherwise illustrious career. That it happened all the way out in Inglewood, California seemed to underscore the cruelty of the event. At the time, Hart was in the gym training so he didn’t get to watch the fight unfold live, but he recalls getting a phone call.
“It hurt the little boy in me because Bernard meant a lot to me,” Hard said. “Not only was I so hurt, my city was hurt as well. We all felt like Hopkins should have gone out better than that.
“And that’s the reason this fight is occurring. It’s not secret that I’m the best light heavyweight out of all these jokers.”
Hart (26-2, 21 KOs) gets his chance to exact revenge for his mentor and idol when he faces Smith (24-3, 20 KOs) in a light heavyweight tilt Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey on ESPN. It’s business as usual, yes, but also a bit personal. Well, a lot personal.
“As a little boy we all got our inspirations,” Hart said. “I don’t know who that was for you, but I’m saying, as a little boy, you’re inspired by wrestlers, Hulk Hogan, you know what I’m saying. Kids say I want to be like Deion Sanders. The kids say they want to be like Andre the Giant. They say they want to be like Bruce Lee.
“The little boy, what’s the inspiration that inspired you to become whatever you became and to be the best at it? That’s what people don’t understand. Bernard Hopkins inspired me to be what I am today and to be the best at it.”
Last month, Hopkins was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, along with Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley. To Hart, though, Hopkins long surpassed Hall of Fame status.
“He’s an icon,” Hart said. “Not just for this sport of boxing but for life, period. Showing people that you can be knocked down and can get back up and coming from where he came from, the penitentiary and doing those negative things and changing his life around. Being a Hall of Famer is cool, but being an icon surpasses all of that.”
Hart is chasing similarly lofty goals himself. After two close losses at super middleweight against then 168-pound titleholder Gilberto Ramirez, Hart moved up to light heavyweight this year, winning a decision against veteran Sullivan Barrera in June. A win over Smith would get him one step closer to another title shot.
He promises not to suffer the same fate as Hopkins.
“I will not go out the ring,” he said. “I will fight at the highest level that I can perform at ever.”
