Artur Beterbiev vs Joe Smith Jr: Three Light Heavyweight Titles Are on the Line

• Artur Beterbiev is a Canadian fighter with a 17-0-0 professional record
• Joe Smith Jr is an American boxer who brings a 28-3-0 CV
• This bout will take place at the iconic Madison Square Garden, New York

Prepare for a fight that will blow your socks off as the hard-hitting Artur Beterbiev continues his progress when taking on the experienced Joe Smith Jr over 12 rounds.

Madison Square Garden in New York provides the backdrop, and fans will pack the iconic venue to capacity, with thousands turning out to watch the show. Millions more will follow this card promoted by Bob Arum for Top Rank live on television and live streaming apps.

Three light heavyweight world titles are on the line here, with the winner of this bout walking away with the WBC, IBF and WBO. This is a fiercely competitive weight category in boxing at the minute, as Saul Alvarez found out when stepping up earlier this year, only to suffer a painful points defeat. There is no room for passengers with the light heavyweight division in a better shape than we have seen for many years.

Artur Beterbiev vs Joe Smith Jr. Odds

Betting odds taken from the Caesars Sportsbook.

The winner of Beterbiev vs Smith Jr will progress their career, moving forward to the unification bout everyone wants to see. Will 2022 be the year we finally have one recognised world champion at light heavyweight? We will be much clearer on that one following this bout, as Beterbiev aims to continue his winning ways by beating an opponent who has more fights but has already suffered three defeats. Don’t take your eyes off this one.

The odds included in the table above are correct at the time of writing, having been lifted from the Caesars Sportsbook mobile app. The odds included in the table above cover the fight winner market. There isn’t too much value around, especially if you are planning on backing the favourite. That’s why the leading online bookmakers offer a selection of interesting markets designed to catch your eye. These include methods of victory – KO or points – winning round, total rounds and more. There’s a market and a bet designed to suit all types of fight fans.

See what’s the best online sportsbook for payouts before you sign up!

Artur Beterbiev vs Joe Smith Jr. Pick

Artur Beterbiev by KO/TKO (-225)

The pre-match odds show there’s little to get excited about if you intend to back Beterbiev to win this fight. There are two ways to approach this issue. Firstly, the -800 odds offered by Caesars Sportsbook is much better than the -1000 to -1200 odds you’ll find at other high-ranking betting apps. That means if you plan to go in big on the favourite, backing him at high stakes, you will get far more for your cash at Caesars than the other sportsbooks. This information saves you time and effort searching for the market best price.

The odds will chase away many regular bettors and casual followers of boxing. Why go big on a selection for the chance of winning a small profit when we know anything can happen in the fight game. One wrong move, an upset result, and it can all be over with you, learning never to go over the top in a boxing bout again.

That’s why we are happy to bypass the fight winner betting – as is often the case with our boxing previews and predictions – and play one of the many specials. The method of victory challenges bettors to pick the fighter they believe will win and how they will achieve the result, by knockout or on points. Often when researching a fight and looking at the form of both combatants, a method of victory selection will present itself, and that’s exactly what has happened in this instance.

Artur Beterbiev vs Joe Smith Jr.  Prediction

Beterbiev has fought 17, won 17, and KO’d all 17 opponents. The Canadian with earth-shattering power was last seen stopping Marcus Browne in Montreal in round nine back in December 2021. Going back even further, we see he has stopped each of his last three opponents late in fights, one in round nine and two in round 10. He has explosive power, which is obvious for all to see, but he isn’t a one-punch KO king.

Artur likes to take his time and grind down opponents before taking them out later. The higher he goes up the rankings, the better opponents he will face and the more often he must dig deep in training and be prepared to be dragged into deep water. Many fighters have immense power but often run out of steam if they can’t get rid of their opponent early. Others lack the tactics and ring IQ to win a bout if they face an opponent who takes their power and keeps coming forward. There’s no Plan B as their power means they have never needed to rely on skills.

That’s not the case with Beterbiev. He has the stamina, skills, patience, and boxing ability to blast an opponent out of the running inside a round or the boxing skills to make them miss, counter-punch and dispatch their rival when the pace finally catches up with them.

Joe Smith Jr has already lost three bouts with one KO on his card. The only fighter to stop Smith to date was Eddie Caminero early in his progress, but he was beaten by Sullivan Barrera and Dimitri Bivol on points. We expect Beterbiev to win this bout with another late stoppage.

How to Watch Artur Beterbiev vs Joe Smith Jr.