Joe Smith Jr. defend his WBO light heavyweight title against Callum Johnson on January 15th in Verona, NY. Smith (27-3, 21 KO) was originally supposed to make his inaugural defense against mandatory challenger Umar Salamov ahead of a 2022 clash with Daniel Jacobs, but Smith’s run-in with COVID delayed the bout before Salamov’s reported visa issues scrapped it. Salamov instead signed on to challenge Dmitry Bivol for the WBA belt in his native Russia, leaving Smith to face the 11th-ranked Johnson (20-1, 14 KO).