Heart, soul, determination and tenacity are just a few words that can be used to describe Joe Smith Jr., a 2007 William Floyd High School alumnus and 2019 William Floyd Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, who defeated Maxim Vlasov on Saturday, April 10, to win the WBO Light Heavyweight championship in a tough-fought majority decision scored by judges for Smith 115-112, 115-113 and 114-114. The championship match was broadcast on ESPN. Smith, now 27-3 in his professional boxing career with 21 knockouts, has set himself up with the opportunity to battle IBF and WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in a unification match.

After the fight, Smith aka the “Beast from the East” wrote to his more than 24,000 Instagram followers, “Being a world champion has been my dream ever since I was a kid. Every minute, every hour, every day I spent in the gym training…working…blood, sweat and tears…has led up to this. The journey hasn’t been alone and there are so many people to thank I simply can’t fit it in this post. But I do just want to say thank you to all who believed in me, stayed in my corner and cheered for me over the years on this wild ride. Thank you all so much! The next one will be huge and I can’t wait. I will be more than ready and I know my friends, family and fans will be in my corner like always.”

He signed the post with the name “The Common Man,” a term that he embraces and helps to describe his blue-collar roots and connection to our community.

Smith, who attended William Paca Middle School and William Floyd High School, began boxing at age 13, going to local gyms after school to work on his craft, with the ultimate goal of becoming a world champion. 

While at William Floyd, he balanced his school work with his boxing, helping him build up a very respectable amateur career. He competed in numerous amateur tournaments as a teenager, becoming a three-time Junior Olympic Champion in 2004, 2005 and 2006. He competed in and won the Empire State Games in 2006, 2007 and 2008, as well as the New York Metro Boxing Championship in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. The most significant moment of his amateur career came when he became a New York Golden Gloves Champion in 2008. 

Smith made his professional boxing debut on October 31, 2009, winning via technical knockout. He would continue to climb the ranks of the light heavyweight division, winning his first 21 of 22 fights.

Smith made his national television debut on June 18, 2016 on NBC in the main event against top-ranked light heavyweight Andrzej Fonfara in Chicago. He went into the fight as a massive underdog, with boxing experts and many fans giving him no real shot of winning. He would silence his critics immediately as he defeated Fonfara via first-round technical knockout. The victory won Smith the WBC International Light Heavyweight Championship, as well as catapulted him toward the top of the division.

Six months later, Smith was challenged by boxing Hall-of-Famer Bernard Hopkins to be the opponent in his farewell fight on December 17, 2016 on HBO. Smith accepted the challenge and spoiled Hopkins’ farewell fight by sending him through the ropes and out of the ring into retirement, winning via technical knockout.

Smith still lives locally and operates a family tree service company in the community – Team Smith Tree Service.