Russian boxer Artur Beterbiev extended his unparalleled winning streak after knocking out American Joe Smith Jr. in the second round.
The 37-year-old Russian defended the World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) belts and also won the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title.
It is noteworthy that Beterbiev is the only reigning world champion to have achieved 100% of his victories by knockout (18 fights, 18 wins, 18 knockouts). As for Smith Jr., he had 32 fights in just one career and had 28 victories in four losses.
It was previously reported after Beterbiev’s victory over Smith Jr. discussed to the WBC with a request to arrange a duel with his compatriot Dmitry Bivol.
Recall that in May of this year Bivol defended his belt in a fight against Saul Alvarez. The fight lasted all 12 rounds and ended in victory with the unanimous decision of the 31-year-old representative of Russia. For Bivol, this fight was the third to defend the title of super world champion according to the World Boxing Association (WBA).