Joe Smith Jr.

Early career

Smith made his professional debut in October 2009 defeating David Brown by technical knockout in the first round in Connecticut.

Smith won his next five fights only to lose his 7th professional fight against Eddie Caminero.

Over the next five years, Smith racked up a record of 20 wins with 16 coming inside the distance and 1 loss. This included wins against the likes of Otis Griffin, Cory Cummings and a decision win against Will Rosinsky. In April 2016, Smith defeated Brazilian boxer Fabiano Pena via a 2nd round TKO winning 15 straight fights and continuing to rise up the ranks.

Smith vs. Fonfara

It was announced that Smith would be fighting the #2 WBC contender, former world title challenger Andrzej Fonfara (28-3, 16 KOs) for the WBC international light heavyweight title at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois on June 18, 2016 in a scheduled 10 round fight in the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions card on NBC. Fonfara was coming of a huge decision win over British boxer Nathan Cleverly. A win here for Fonfara would set him up for another world title shot.

In an 'Upset of the Year' in the light heavyweight division, Smith won the title by defeating Fonfara via a 1st round technical knockout. Smith knocked Fonfara down twice in the round 1. The fight was halted after the second knockdown by referee Hector Afu. The official time of the stoppage was at 2:32. Smith caught Fonfara with a big right hand that dropped him. Fonfara got back to his feet. The referee let the fight continue. When the action resumed, Smith landed a left hook that snapped Fonfara’s head back. Smith then followed up with a hard right hand to the head that dropped Fonfara in the corner, which ended the fight. The win also ended Fonfara's 15 fight undefeated streak at the UIC Pavilion.

Smith vs. Hopkins

Former multiple weight world champion Bernard Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs) announced he would be having a farewell fight at The Forum in Inglewood, California on December 17, 2016. He picked Smith as his final opponent. Hopkins would be coming out of a two-year layoff having last fought in 2014 in a decision loss to then unified light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. Smith was said to be 'excited' to be fighting on HBO, a card promoted by Golden Boy. Both boxers weighed in at 174 pounds.

On fight night, in front of a 6,513 crowd, Smith upset and defeated Hopkins via KO when he knocked him out of the ring in the 8th round; Hopkins failed to make it back into the ring as referee Jack Reiss gave his 20-count. He became the first boxer to stop Hopkins inside the distance. Smith seemed to struggle through the first seven rounds with the boxing skills of Hopkins, although being ahead on two judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage. In the 8th round, Smith caught Hopkins in the corner and landed five shots to the head that knocked him out of the ring. Hopkins said he was hurt and couldn't get back into the ring. He insisted that he’d been pushed out of the ring, but replays showed it wasn't a push. Hopkins spoke to HBO in the post fight interview, "He shoved me out of the ring. My ankle got twisted when I fell out of the ring. I couldn't stand on my feet ... I can’t believe they gave him a TKO. They can call it a no-contest but not a loss. The momentum from his body pushed me. I went out like a soldier. I’m not in denial.” Smith Jr. retained his WBC International light heavyweight title with the win and spoke of his respect for Hopkins in the post-fight, stating he is 'a true champion'. Hopkins' reported purse was $800,000, compared to Smith's $140,000. According to RingTV, the fight averaged 934,000 viewers, peaking at 1.035m on HBO.