NEW YORK – Artur Beterbiev lived up to the old saying: never two without three.
Beterbiev defeated Joe Smith Jr. by knockout in the second round and claimed a third light heavyweight belt at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday.
Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs), champion of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Council (WBC) belts, added the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title to his height .
Marc Ramsay’s protege dominated the fight from the first to the last moment, and kept his perfect record of as many knockouts. in as many fights.
“I’m going to need a little time to get used to it,” said the monarch with three crowns after his victory in an interview at ESPN. I will make it in a few days. »
“His guard was slightly open so it was easier for me to hit him. Two boxers have good strength and each tries to hit the other first. This time I was lucky and I was the one who took the hit,” he described with simplicity.
Only one belt escapes the Montrealer of Russian origin. It is that of the World Boxing Association (WBA) currently owned by Dmitrii Bivol.
“Unification battles are more interesting and more motivating. I prefer fights to unify titles,” Beterbiev said before agreeing that he wants to become the undisputed champion in the category.
Long Island native Smith (28-4, 22 KOs) was knocked down in the first round and things went from bad to worse for Smith. He finally abdicated in the second round.
On the undercard, the double gold medalist for Cuba, Robeisy Ramirez (10-1, 6 KOs) gave a first loss to Puerto Rican Abraham Nova (21-1, 15 KOs) by through a K.-O. in the fifth round.
