Joe Smith needs new foe for title defense after Callum Johnson's positive Covid test
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Light heavyweight contender Callum Johnson has come down with Covid-19 and will be unable to challenge Joe Smith Jr. for his WBO light heavyweight title on Jan. 15, Star Boxing promoter Joe DeGuardia and Top Rank told Fight Freaks Unite on Thursday.
The bout was scheduled to headline the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Jan. 15 at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
The card will still go on as scheduled but with Smith likely to face a new opponent in his first title defense. The promoters were trying to wrap up a new opponent as quickly as possible.
“We’re very disappointed,” DeGuardia said. “It’s just — you can’t even describe it. It’s just very disappointing. We were looking forward to Joe having a sensational performance versus Callum Johnson, but what can you do? Now we’re trying to get a deal done with a new opponent.”
Smith (27-3, 21 KOs), 32, of Mastic, New York, is all too familiar with Covid-19 impacting his bouts. He came down with the virus last fall, which forced him to postpone a mandatory defense against Russia’s Umar Salamov.
The fight was supposed to headline a Top Rank card on Oct. 30 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, but it was postponed when Smith became ill. The fight was rescheduled for Jan. 15, but when Salamov had visa issues and was unable to get to the United States, Johnson got the fight and Salamov remained in Russia, where he wound up getting a shot at WBA beltholder and countryman Dmitry Bivol, who rolled to a one-sided decision in their fight on Dec. 11.
Because of the illness, Smith has been out of action since he eked out a majority decision over Russia’s Maxim Vlasov in an action-packed battle on April 10 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to claim the title that Canelo Alvarez had vacated.
The Smith-Vlasov fight was also impacted by Covid-19. It was originally scheduled to take place on Feb. 13 in Las Vegas, but Vlasov tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the weigh-in, forcing a postponement until April.
Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs), 36, of England, would have entered the bout on a three-fight winning streak since losing a memorable slugfest challenging Artur Beterbiev for his IBF world title in October 2018 in Chicago. Johnson knocked Beterbiev down and had him in major trouble before Beterbiev, who has since also claimed the WBC belt, rallied for a fourth-round knockout win.
The first of Johnson’s three wins in a row came at Turning Stone on a card he shared with Smith. In the main event on March 9, 2019, Smith lost a decision challenging Bivol for his title and Johnson knocked out Seanie Monaghan in the third round and sent him into retirement.
Covid-19 has also impacted the co-feature of the Jan. 15 card.
Featherweight up-and-comer Abraham Nova (20-0, 14 KOs), 27, of Albany, New York, who will have his second fight since missing more than a year due to a torn Achilles tendon, had been scheduled to face Jose Enrique Vivas (21-1, 11 KOs), 27, of Mexico, before Covid-19 spread through Vivas’ camp and forced him out of the bout. So now, according to Top Rank, Nova will instead square off with the Dominican Republic’s William Encarnacion (19-1, 15 KOs), who has been out of action since December 2020.
Photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
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When a fighter cancels this late, and there's no fighter preparing to box just in case there's a cancellation, then imo the fight should just be cancelled.
Going ahead with a very late, unprepared, replacement usually leads to an uncompetitive fight that could be dangerous to the replacement.
First I am disappointed in the fight being cancelled then what are they going to do move it or stick with a ten day replacement. Normally that don't work out too well when you get up the rankings but it could turn interesting on how and who they get in the ring. Thanks for the info keep it going .............. Smith don't want no quick elusive style fighter as a replacement.