Eleider Alvarez and Joe Smith Jr. are determined to get another shot at a major light heavyweight title. They’ll have to go through the other to get there.
Alvarez and Smith are scheduled to fight in a title eliminator Saturday night in the MGM Grand “bubble” in Las Vegas. The winner will take a significant step forward, the loser possibly a step into oblivion.
“This fight is critical for both of our careers,” Alvarez said. “I respect Joe Smith, who has proven to be an elite fighter. However, I have all the tools to beat him, and that’s what I intend to do. My goal is to become a two-time light heavyweight world champion.”
Alvarez (25-1, 13 KOs) peaked in 2017 and 2018, when he beat in succession Lucian Bute, Jean Pascal and Sergey Kovalev. The Montreal-based Colombian stopped Kovalev in seven rounds to win a major title in August 2018.
Six months later Kovalev outpointed Alvarez to regain the title and he’s fought only once since, stopping Michael Seals with a single right hand in January.
Smith (25-3, 20 KOs) made a splash in 2016, when the relative unknown from Long Island, N.Y., stopped favored Andrzej Fonfara in the first round and then knocked Bernard Hopkins out of the ring to end his Hall of Fame career.
The 30-year-old union worker went to challenge Dmitry Bivol for one of the titles but lost a wide decision in March of last year, his only title shot. He bounced back to outpoint capable Jesse Hart in January to earn the fight with Alvarez.
Neither fighter can afford another setback.
“This fight means everything to me,” Smith said. “It’s my path to a world title fight, and I know this is my second chance to turn my dream into reality. Alvarez is a former world champion, and in my mind, I am treating this as a world title fight. To get there, I have to, and will win this fight.”
The card, which also features a middleweight fight between Rob Brant (25-2, 17 KOs) and Vitalii Kopylenko (28-2, 16 KOs), will be streamed on ESPN+.
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