Light heavyweight slugger Joe “The Beast” Smith Jr. (26-3, 21 KOs) is officially set to take on Maxim Vlasov (45-3, 26 KOs) on February 13th for the vacant WBO light heavyweight world title on ESPN.

With his August win over Elieder Alvarez, Smith Jr. was originally set to take on the winner of Maxim Vlasov vs Umar Salamov, in the finals of the WBO title eliminator. However, Vlasov-Salamov was postponed once due to the global pandemic, again in October, and again in November when Salamov tested positive for COVID-19. Promoter Joe DeGuardia then requested and was granted the right for Smith Jr. to take on Maxim Vlasov for the vacant WBO world title.