Via Adam Baskin: Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr both put on weight Friday at Saturday night’s weigh-in for the title during a Top Rank event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
(Credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rated via Getty Images)
The IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion wasn’t smiling, Beterbiev (17-0.17 KOs) weighed 175 lbs and looked as good as ever. Worried-looking WBO champion, Smith (28-3, 22 KOs) weighed 174.6 lbs.
Full bottom weight
- Robeisy Ramirez 125.8 lbs vs. Abraham Nova 125.4 lbs
- Bruce Carrington 127.4 lbs vs Adrian Leyva 127.4 lbs
- Jahi Tucker 147.8 lbs vs. D’Andre Smith 147.6 lbs
- Floyd Diaz 121.6 lbs vs. Daniil Platonovschi 122 lbs
- Troy Isley 158.6 lbs vs Donte Stubbs 161.6 lbs
- Wendy Toussaint 152.2 lbs vs. Asinia Byfield 152.8 lbs
- Jahyae Brown 153.2 lbs vs. Keane McMahon 152.6 lbs
In the same weight division, the talent won the Olympic gold medal twice Robeisy Ramirez (9-1.5 Kos) weighs 125.8 lbs, and his opponent Abraham Nova (21-0, 15 KOs) weighed 125.4 lbs for their 10-round bout.
“Robeisy Ramirez, a [two-time Olympic] the gold medal winner was upset earlier in his career [by Adan Gonzalez in first fight of pro career]’ Max Kellerman said to ESPN. “He got his career back on track. Why is it so difficult so early in your career? ”
“The problem is that he’s had over 400 amateur fights, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and it’s hard to break those old habits. That amateur scoring style,” said Tim Bradley of what happened to the talented Cuban Robeisy Ramirez during his unannounced loss to Adan Gonzalez in 2019.
“Robeisy Ramirez, yes, he is a great mover, aggressive and throws tons of forward punches, but he doesn’t really sit down on his shots. He made a lot of mistakes as an amateur.
From switching to fore, you need to be more certain with your strokes, you need to hit. It’s the business that hurts, that’s all there is to it. I think he’s transformed his style into a more aggressive counter attack that can knock people down. I watched his last game, and he looked really good,” Bradley said of Robeisy.
“He beat Shakur Stevenson, and then he lost his first professional fight. ‘Oh my, this guy is going to be the greatest,’ and lost his pro fight, but since then he’s been looking better and better.
THIS IS NOT OUTSTANDING@RobeisyRamirez x @ abrahamnova22 #BeterbievSmith | DELICIOUS Dish | ESPN pic.twitter.com/F9Q55b83MM
– Top boxing (@trboxing) June 17, 2022
“Abraham Nova, what do you think of him? Kellerman said. “He’s not a world-beater.”
“I think tomorrow night he’ll be able to show what level he’s at,” Bradley said of Nova. “He had a pretty good amateur career, but not as much as a Robeisy Ramirez.
“He was straight up and down. He’s in and he’s out and has a longer reach. He’s gotten bigger and dropped from 130 lbs to 126. We’ll see if that helps him in this fight.
We’ll find out if he’s skilled enough to beat a guy like Robeisy Ramirez,” Bradley said.
