Artur Petterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs) will look to remain undefeated in his lightweight unification match against American Joe Smith Jr (28-3, 22 KOs) on Saturday, June 18. His IBF and WBC Light Heavyweight titles against the WBO Light Heavyweight title at Hulu Theather at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The big series of boxing and multi-belt unification fights will pass on Saturday with what promises to be an all-out showdown between WBC and IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Artur Petterbiev and WBO Champion Joe Smith Jr. The match kicks off from the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night (10 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Beterbiev made his debut in 2013 and won the WBA-NABA lightweight title in 2014. In 2017, Beterbiev won the IBF lightweight title against Enrico Kolling. Petrbiev defended this title five times. In 2019, Beterbiev defeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk to win the WBC lightweight title. In his last fight, Terbiev defeated Marcus Braun to retain the titles.
Smith racked up 4 straight wins, including a ninth round of KO against Steve Jeffrard one last time. His most recent loss in March 2019 to Dimitri Bevol came in a unanimous setback at Turning Stone Resort & Casino.
A massive title unification bout between WBC and IBF lightweight champion Artur Petterbiev and reigning WBO champion Joe Smith Jr. tops a Class A boxing fight card at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday, June 18 (18/6/2022).
After winning his first world title in 2017, Petrbiev has racked up some impressive victories, including a unit win against Oleksandr Gvozdyk in 2019. But he has fought only twice since then, and although he scored what was probably the second or third best win of all. His career On his last outing against Marcus Braun, Petrbiev faced some criticism for not winning as impressively as he should have.
Battles all the time to tell the student to watch. I have several but I will include a few from the top of the dome. Ray Leonard vs Wilfred Benitez. Leonard kept missing Benitez with his right hand. Benitez slipped under the shot. So Leonard started hitting Benitez with the shot he didn’t see. Gap arrives from his line of sight.
Main Card (ESPN and ESPN+, 10:00 PM ET)
Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KO) vs Joe Smith Jr (28-3, 22 KO), light heavyweight, 12 rounds, for Beterbiev’s WBC and IBF titles and Smith’s WBO title
Rubisi Ramirez (9-1, 5 KOs) vs. Abraham Nova (21-0, 15 KOs), featherweight, 10 rounds.
Prelims (ESPN+, 6:00 p.m. ET)
Note: ESPN+ does list introductory shows starting at 6:30PM ET, but emcee Mark Shunock said 6PM ET frequently when weighing, so we’re including 6PM ET so no one gets confused and misses anything . Often one of these things – ESPN + early insertion or Shunock at weight – is wrong, so just an alert.
Wendy Toussaint (13-1, 6 KO) vs. Asinia Byfield (15-4-1, 7 KO), junior middleweight, 8 rounds.
Bruce Carrington (3-0, 2 KO) vs. Adrian Leyva (3-2-1, 1 KO), featherweight, 6 rounds.
Jahi Tucker (7-0, 4 KO) vs. D’Andre Smith (11-1, 5 KO), welterweight, 6 rounds
Floyd Diaz (4-0, 1 KO) vs. Daniel Platonovci (4-0, 2 KO), emerging featherweight, 6 rounds.
Troy Easley (5-0, 3 KOs) vs Dontei Stubbs (6-5, 2 KOs), middleweight, 6 rounds.
Jahai Brown (10-0, 8 KO) vs. Ken McMahon (7-2, 4 KO), junior middleweight, 6 rounds.
Artur Petterbiev vs. Joe Smith Jr. Odds and Lines
odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; Access the USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds Center for a complete list. Fonts were last updated at 8:50 AM ET.
Fight Score (2-way line): Beterbiev -800 ($800 bet to win $100) | Smith Jr. +420 (bet $100 to win $420)
Over/Under: 8.5 shots (over -125 | under -110)
Will the fight go the distance? (Yes +240 | No -420)
When BETERBIEV VS. Smith Jr.? DATE, START TIME
Date: Saturday 18th June
Main card: 9 p.m. ET/2 AM GMT
Main event chime (approx): 11 p.m. ET / 4 AM GMT
The main ticket is set to launch at 9pm. ET/2 a.m. GMT with the main event chime scheduled for 11 p.m. ET/4 a.m. GMT. These timings can change due to the length of bottom card battles.
What channel/broadcast is BETERBIEV VS. Smith Jr.?
United States: ESPN +
United Kingdom: Sky Sports
The fight will be broadcast on ESPN+ in the US, while UK fight fans can watch the unification fight on Sky Sports.
