The vacant WBO light heavyweight belt will be up for grabs the second weekend of April. Joe Smith Jr. (26-3 with 21 KOs) will take on Maxim Vlasov (45-3 with 26 KOs) for the strap on a Top Rank card. They were originally supposed to face off in Las Vegas on February 13, but that fight had to be pushed back after Vlasov contracted COVID. Both fighters have contended for major belts in the past, yet neither Smith nor Vlasov has claimed one at this juncture.
Smith and Vlasov will meet on Saturday, April 10, 2021 at the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This card will be broadcast on ESPN starting at 10 p.m. ET.
When: Saturday, April 10, 2021
Where: Osage Casino, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Why: WBO light heavyweight belt
Joe Smith Jr. vs Maxim Vlasov Betting Odds
Joe Smith Jr. -355
Maxim Vlasov +265
Smith is a moderately priced favorite per the boxing betting odds. At this number, a $355 bet on Smith would return $100 if he were to win. The above number also means that a $100 wager on Vlasov would profit $265 if he were to get the victory.
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 had little trouble with his first six opponents, registering a knockout within two rounds for each of his initial six foes. However, he was stunned in his seventh fight, losing by fourth round TKO to unheralded Eddie Caminero. That setback hurt his chances of a quick rise to prominence, yet he recovered to win his next five bouts by KO before some decision victories over Lamont Williams and Otis Griffin.
He was a man on a mission after beating Griffin with an early knockout in his next four fights. Smith scored a ninth round TKO of Shujaa El Amin and then beat Will Robinsky by unanimous decision to become a top contender at light heavyweight. His second round TKO of Fabiano Pena set up a showdown with Andrzej Fonfara for the WBC International light heavyweight belt, and he recorded a first round TKO to claim the title.
That win led to his first premier fight. Smith took on the legendary Bernard Hopkins, and he became the first boxer ever to stop Hopkins before the final bell. While Hopkins was 51 years old at the time of the fight, it was an impressive performance.
Unfortunately, he was not as crisp in two of his next three fights. We saw Smith lose by unanimous decision to Sullivan Barrera for the WBC International belt and he fell to Dmitry Bivol with the WBA main strap on the line two years ago. Smith won a split decision off Jesse Hart for the WBO-NABO light heavyweight belt last January, and he sent former champion Eleider Alvarez to the mat in August.
Vlasov was a professional boxer for a long time before receiving his due. He bounced between Central Asia and the United States for the first five years of his career to run his record to 19-0 before suffering a unanimous decision loss at the hands of former title challenger Isaac Chilemba.
The Russian didn’t taste defeat for another four years until he lost to former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez. That knocked him down a few pegs, but he eventually won the WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight belt and then picked up the WBA International cruiserweight title with a seventh round TKO of Rakhim Chakhkiev.
We saw Vlasov go on to win the WBA Europe cruiserweight belt and the WBC Silver cruiserweight strap before losing by unanimous decision to Krzysztof Glowacki for the interim WBO cruiserweight belt back in November 2018. However, Vlasov has since won three straight bouts, including a rematch with Chilemba in July 2019. He hasn’t entered the ring in 17 months though.
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