Six minutes was enough: how Beterbiev knocked out Smith and won the third world title in light heavyweight

Throughout its history, Madison Square Garden has hosted many historic boxing matches.

This arena hosted two parts of the legendary trilogy between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, a superfight with the participation of Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, and Anthony Joshua's US debut that ended with a loud upset.

At that time, the little-known Andy Ruiz approached the fight in the status of an underdog, but managed to create a sensation and knock out the undefeated Briton at that time.

And it was in this building that Artur Beterbiev had to duel with Joe Smith Jr., as a result of which he could become the owner of three light heavyweight belts.

But for this, he needed to get the better of a boxer who preached almost the same style.

Like Beterbiev, Smith became famous thanks to his hardest blow, which managed to send more than one opponent to the floor.

During his career, he won 28 fights, and in 22 of them, it was not necessary to spend all the time in the ring to determine the winner.

The problem is that this time the American was opposed by the real king of knockouts, who never brought the case to a decision of the judges in his career.

None of the current world champions can boast of such an achievement, and Daniel Dubois (94%, 17 out of 18) and Gervonta Davis (92.6%, 25 out of 27) - the holders of regular titles in the heavy and light categories - are closest to him. respectively.

However, this did not stop Smith from expressing self-confidence and calling himself the strongest puncher in the division.

Joe was not shy about loud statements and promised to arrange a real felling with an undefeated opponent.

Beterbiev, on the other hand, behaved traditionally modestly and only once again emphasized that he was in excellent condition, and there was no talk of a decline due to age.

But in January, Arthur celebrated his 37th birthday.

Beterbiev has already accustomed everyone to the fact that he starts fights very slowly.

He warmed up for a very long time in the battle with Adam Daines, and in the battle with Marcus Brown he turned on only after he received a deep cut and was one step away from losing.

The Russian, who competed under the Canadian flag, decided not to betray himself this time too, giving the initiative to the American.

During the first one and a half minutes, he actively went forward and tried to bombard the opponent's head with heavy jabs and sweeping overhands, but most of them fell into the block.

Nevertheless, there was no need to doubt the power of Joe's blows.

One of them, though stuck in Arthur's gloves, forced him to hastily step back.

And for a moment there was even an impression that the WBC and IBF champion was, albeit a little, shocked.

But if Beterbiev felt this hit, he did not show it, and after a few seconds he moved on to active actions.

Not only did Smith miss the jabs, but he couldn't do anything with the slant right cross.

Already at the 78th second, this technique took him by surprise and almost led to his fall to the canvas, but Joe managed to survive.

True, not for long.

At the end of the first minute, he missed several hard blows and could not keep his balance, but the referee did not count.

In his opinion, the American only slipped.

Although his slightly tangled legs suggested otherwise.

As it became clear later, the judge only delayed the first knockdown in Smith's career.

A few seconds before the gong, he again recklessly went to Beterbiev and ran into the same oncoming cross with a slope.

And although the American, who had gone down on one knee, managed to quickly get up, the score was still open.

40 seconds later, everything happened again.

Fearless Smith went forward again, but was taken by surprise by Beterbiev's smashing direct, and by the 75th second he was knocked down one more time.

The Russian felt the taste of blood and began to beat his opponent.

The same one, although with difficulty standing on his feet, continued to get involved in exchanges instead of taking a short break and taking a breath.

Apparently, he himself expected to catch his counterpart on the counterattack, but only drove himself into the pit.

In this regard, he resembled the infamous UFC fighter Cody Garbrandt, who made similar mistakes more than once.

As a result, Smith did not manage to hold out for two rounds in the same ring with Beterbiev.

In the sixth minute of the fight, Arthur drove him to the ropes and brought down a hail of hard blows, and finished everything with a combination of two uppercuts and an overhand right.

Joe staggered back to the ropes, and the referee considered that he had had enough.

Beterbiev scored the 18th victory by knockout in his career and repeated the achievement of Sergey Kovalev, becoming the second Russian light heavyweight world champion in history in three prestigious versions.

And at the end of the battle, Arthur once again announced his desire to fight with Dmitry Bivol and unify all the belts.

True, for this he will have to not only agree with the team of his compatriot, but also to get a reprieve from Anthony Yarde, who is a mandatory contender for the WBO title.