There is a ton of boxing on Valentine’s Day weekend with three separate promotions putting forward a card on Saturday, February 13. Top Rank’s event will headline Joe Smith Jr. taking on Maxim Vlasov for the vacant light WBO light heavyweight title in Sin City. Smith is 26-3 with 21 knockouts coming into this title bout, while Vlasov is 42-3 with 26 KOs. This fight will headline an ESPN card that is slated to get underway at 10 p.m. ET. It will be available to watch on both ESPN and ESPN Deportes with long-time promoter Bob Arum calling the main event, “Rocky IV come to life.”
When: Saturday, February 13, 2021
Where: MGM Grand Conference Center, Paradise, Nevada
Why: WBO light heavyweight belt
Joe Smith Jr. vs Maxim Vlasov Betting Odds
Joe Smith Jr. -337
Maxim Vlasov +267
While Smith is the favorite, the oddsmakers are giving Vlasov a decent chance of pulling off the upset. If you are unfamiliar with boxing betting odds, you would need to wager $337 to win $100 on Smith. Meanwhile, a $100 wager on the Russian would return a $267 profit if he were to claim the title.
As the fight nears, there will be decision betting too. You will be able to bet on whether the fight is decided by KO, TKO, or decision, and you can bet on which boxer will win the fight in that fashion as well.
Joe Smith Jr. vs Maxim Vlasov Preview
Smith turned pro in late 2009. He secured a knockout inside of two rounds in his first six fights before losing by fourth-round TKO in his first six-round bout. Not having a zero in the loss column so early on certainly stifled his career, but he didn’t let it bother him for too long. He won his next seven bouts before an impressive unanimous decision win over Otis Griffin.
His winning ways continued as the fights got longer, leading to Smith earning his first title shot in June 2016. He ended up winning a first-round TKO over Andrzej Fonfara to claim the WBC International light heavyweight belt. Then, Smith beat the legendary Bernard Hopkins six months later, sending the then 51-year-old boxer into permanent retirement.
That victory put Smith on the map, but he ended up losing two of his next three fights. Smith lost a unanimous decision to Sullivan Barrera for his WBC International title in July 2017, and he lost a unanimous decision to Dmitry Bivol with the WBA light heavyweight belt on the line in March 2019.
We saw Smith secure a close split decision win over Jesse Hart for the WBO-NABO light heavyweight strap last January before he recorded a ninth round KO of Eleider Alvarez in August.
Vlasov is 34 years old, but he has been extremely active since turning pro in April 2005. This will be his 49th bout. He went 19-0 before suffering his first loss, a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of IBO super middleweight champion Isaac Chilemba.
That defeat meant he had to work his way back up the ladder. He brushed himself off by winning 11 straight fights, including two WBC Baltic regional belts. Unfortunately, he then lost a unanimous decision to future WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez.
Vlasov rallied once again with 12 straight victories before his last defeat. He fell to WBO cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Glowacki in the World Boxing Super Series in November 2018. His last three bouts have all been victories though.
The Russian defeated 14-1 Omar Garcia by TKO in Krasnodar before scoring a nice bit of revenge with a unanimous decision victory over Chilemba in July 2019. Vlasov knocked off unbeaten Emmanuel Martey by unanimous decision in his last bout, but he hasn’t entered the ring since November 2019. Rust could be a factor.
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