Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith will play a reunion match. According to the WBC, WBO and IBF versions, there will be three simultaneous light heavy belts. In terms of sports, this is a great fight. Everything else is a complete nightmare.

The organizations acted as if there was nothing wrong with Beterbiev and followed Bob Arum’s lie that Arthur was Canadian.

Smith is a strong competitor and one of the top staples in the light heavyweight category. Beterbiev could lose

It is customary to consider Artur Beterbiev as the undisputed favorite of fights. Makes sense: 17 wins, no losses, 17 knockouts.

However, it is not in vain that non-Ukrainian boxing fans are looking forward to this meeting. There’s definitely more intrigue here than at most (except Usyk) meetings of Beterbiev. The Russian can really lose.

Joe Smith is far from the best boxers. Just good and strong. Debuting in 2009, he lost for the first time in 2010 – Eddie Caminero, who ended his career with a negative record five years later. Smith’s next defeat came seven years later – to Sullivan Barrera in a duel for the WBC international title. You can already feel the difference in the classroom.

In total, Joe lost three times. The third, and now the last time – in a duel against Dmitry Bivol. In general, the Russian won the war: it was more accurate, versatile and better. But Smith also made Bivol’s legs stagger visibly.

Overall, Smith has a punch. He is a very talented athlete physically. He combined boxing with construction and deforestation, he did not stop working physically. Therefore, you should not fall under the blows of this man. But for a long time the boxing school remained a problematic place.

Getting veteran Bernard Hopkins out of the ring or quickly dealing with Andrzej Fondara in one round is both super and important and cool. But you can’t go far with strength alone, and now it’s remarkable how the American has evolved.

Bivolu’s defeat forced Smith to rebuild. Already the next opponent – Jesse Hart – Joe was tough, but out of the box and did not lie down. I also had to work with Eleider Alvarez and Maxim Vlasov. Both are boxing rivals who don’t just think about punch strength. And Joe coped with both thanks to boxing, not just brute strength. Although all the actions of an American are built from him.

Beterbiev is always Beterbiev. Development should not be expected from a 37-year-old Russian. His power boxing with a good school works – he uses it. Marcus Braun was the last to suffer. Besides seventeen fights in a row, it was worth trusting. The only time there was any doubt was before meeting with Gvozdyk. But Alexander did not take advantage of the opportunity and missed the chance due to insufficient preparation.

And the second is right now. There are enough reasons for that.

Who is your favourite?

You will not win much by betting on Beterbiev – the average odds are 1.12. But Smith is profitable – on average there are 5.50.

Joe can win because of the banal truth – he becomes a better boxer while he can hit. Could be and Gvozdyk, but overslept training. Semih has never been seen like this.

The American must force something. Just go and fight smartly until the 37-year-old opponent accelerates and is in a situation where it will be difficult to stop. The Russian packs a good punch, but has already fallen and is certainly not perfect at it. Malleable and must be beaten. Now there is absolutely every chance: there is constant pressure on Arthur, he is already so old, you can seize the moment.

With all the other options, Beterbiev should still win. It is more versatile, sharp and accurate in attacks. The best boxer that will be tough when warmed up.

But the duel itself is a complete failure of organizations. They all pretended that the Russian champion did not exist. They explained this by saying that even though the war had been going on for eight years, they had won sooner.

But that’s not the worst of all, the fact that Beterbiev is almost a Kadyrovite. He loves Kadyrov, calls him brother and thanks him for his advice. For the past two months, Ukrainian journalists have been working with the Klitschko brothers to strip this man, who has not yet recognized the war and condemned his country’s actions, without a belt. All we got was Arum’s quote that Beterbiev was Canadian.

We believe that it is a disgrace for the sport that Kadyrov boxed for the combined world champion titles. And point.

The Artur Beterbiev – Joe Smith duel will take place on Sunday night, June 19, in New York. Estimated start of the battle – 05:00 Kyiv time.