Artur Beterbiev to face Joe Smith Jr in a light heavyweight world title unification fight on June 18th

Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr.'s title bout is officially set for June 18. Announced on Twitter yesterday, the matchup has drawn the attention of fight fans all over the world.

See the Tweet from Michael Benson of talkSPORT here:

The Russian-Canadian Beterbiev has held the IBF Light Heavyweight Title since 2017 after knocking out Enrico Kolling, and has an impressive record of 17-0, with all of his wins coming by knockout. He is currently the only world champion to have won every bout by KO.

Joe Smith Jr., the Long Island native, has held the WBO Light Heavyweight Title since beating Maxim Vlasov 2021 has a record of 28-3, with 22 of his wins by KO. He is currently on a four-fight win streak after suffering a loss to Dmitry Bivol, who is fighting Canelo Alvarez this Saturday.

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Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr. will unify the WBC, IBF & WBO titles

The unification showdown will be held in the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Beterbiev is recognized as the best active light heavyweight fighter by The Ring. He has fought the likes of Gabriel Campillo, Alexander Johnson, Enrico Kolling, Callum Johnson, and Adam Deines.

Initially, Artur's matchup with Smith Jr. had to be negotiated to take place during the summer, since Beterbiev would be participating in Ramadan in April, therefore leaving him unable to compete.

Artur Beterbiev posted the fight poster for his matchup on his Instagram:

He captioned it:

"Are you with me? On June 18, we head into deep waters."

Joe Smith Jr. has been tested in battles against tough fighters like Bernard Hopkins, Andrzej Fonfara, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Dmitry Bivol, and Maxim Vlasov.

Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr. have both shown extraordinary knockout power. They have a combined total of 39 knockouts, so fight fans should be marking their calendars to prepare for June 18th.

This does not seem like a fight that will go the distance. Beterbiev could move to 18-0, or Smith Jr. could very plausibly become the first person to stop his tear through the division.