Artur Beterbiev further unified the delicate heavyweight division by adding Joe Smith Jr.’s WBO belt to his WBC and IBF belts with a spectacular second-round victory on Saturday at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in Recent York City.

Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) came into the fight with a 100% knockout record, having won the IBF belt in 2017 and added the WBC title in October 2019 with a victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Smith Jr. (28-4, 22 KOs) won the vacant WBO title last April with a majority decision victory over Maxim Vlasov.

Beterbiev caught Smith Jr. with a right hand just seconds after the opening bell, and though the Long Island fighter came forward and landed some solid punches in the opening frame, he was floored for the first time in his career by a low, sneaky right hand just inside the bell.

It was a lightning-fast knockdown, so the 32-year-old continued on and opted to go toe-to-toe with Beterbiev to start the second round, but it came at a cost as a counter right hand put him on the deck again.

Once again Smith Jr survived the count but the Russian-born Canadian overwhelmed him and another series of tough punches, this time a combination of right and left, floored him for a third time.

Smith Jr simply couldn’t avoid the punches and a jarring uppercut left him wobbly on his feet, and the referee had seen enough and waved the fight off.

Thoughts quickly turned to a mouth-watering undisputed title clash with the WBA “super” champion, Dmitry BivolWhile his next likely matchup will be with WBO number one contender Anthony Yard, who was ringside, Beterbiev prefers an undisputed clash with Bivol, who is coming off a stunning win over Canelo Alvarez in May.

Artur Beterbiev is a very, very bad man 😳@BoostMobile X #BeterbievSmith pic.twitter.com/wwIjgjeXk3

— Top-tier boxing (@trboxing) June 19, 2022

“Unification fights are more engaging and motivating” the 37-year-old told ESPN after the fight.

“I prefer [to] unify the fight. I want to be undisputed.”

Ramirez attacks Nova

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (10-1, 6 KOs) won the vacant WBO Global featherweight title with a fifth-round knockout victory over previously undefeated Abraham Nova (21-1, 15 KOs).

DECLARATION MADE 😱@RobeisyRamirez X #BeterbievSmith pic.twitter.com/bAogVcPpUT

— Top-tier boxing (@trboxing) June 19, 2022

It was a devastating finish as the Cuban unleashed a huge left hook that flattened Nova on impact.

Remaining Undercard

In the super welterweight division, Wendy Toussaint (14-1, 6 KOs) won an eight-round decision over Asinia Byfield (15-5-1, 7 KOs) by three scores of 79-73, while in the welterweight division, Jahi Tucker (8-0, 5 KOs) remained undefeated as he stopped D’Andre Smith (11-2, 5 KOs) in the fourth round.

In the middleweight division, Troy Isley (6-0, 4 KOs) also remained undefeated, stopping Donte Stubbs (6-6, 2 KOs) in the sixth and final round.

Super welterweight Jahyae Brown (11-0, 8 KOs) defeated Keane McMahon (7-3, 4 KOs) on points, and super featherweight Floyd Diaz (5-0, 1 KO) did the same in his fight with Daniil Platonovsky (4-1, 2 KOs).

Bruce Carrington (4-0, 3 KO) forced Adrian Leyva (3-3-1, 1 KO) to retire after five rounds in their featherweight fight.

Shakur Stevenson made his first successful defense of his WBC lightweight title at the Prudential Center in Newark, Recent Jersey, winning a decisive decision over Artem Harutyunyan.

Stevenson (22-0, 10 KOs) entered the fight as a three-division world champion, having won the vacant WBC title in his last fight, a stunning victory over Edwin De Los Santos last November in Las Vegas. Harutyunyan (12-2, 7 KOs) was coming off a narrow points loss to Frank Martin last July.

The fight was never intended to boost Stevenson’s credibility, and that was proven when he spent the first two rounds sizing up his opponent, never looking like he was in trouble.

The champion used his hand speed to good effect and gradually reviewed his repertoire as the fight wore on, the sixth saw the guy land a few shots to the head, while a body shot seemed to bother the German.

By the eighth second, the 27-year-old southpaw was in complete control, pushing his rival away, and in the ninth he again worked the body effectively.

Harutyunyan felt the fight slipping out of his hands and started attacking belatedly, which somewhat offset Stevenson’s attack, but the hosts maintained control until the final bell, where the result was a formality.

Scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112 ensured Stevenson retained his title and the Newark native became the champion free promotional agent following the screw.

“It’s difficult to prove it unless you have a fighter who wants to fight,” Stevenson said. ESPN after the fight.

“He’s just trying to make sure he survives.

“He’s a good fighter. He’s tough. He’s robust. I wish he would try harder, it would make the fight more engaging.

“I need to cut the ring a little more. It went one way, then the other, so I need to get back in the gym and work on cutting the gym off.

Conceicao is the world champion

Robson Conceicao became the up-to-date WBC super featherweight world champion in a key support role when the Brazilian was coming off a split decision loss to O’Shaquie Foster.

Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) had failed in his three previous attempts to win a world title, but seemed very joyful to get the nod here in an unforgettable event.

Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) seemed to have done enough to retain his belt after such a close fight, but the judges disagreed and scores of 116-112 and 115-113 gave Conceicao the win, with a 116-116-112 decision dismissing the American.

Davis overtook Madueno

Keyshawn Davis (11-0, 7 KOs) defended his WBC USA, IBF USBA and WBO Intercontinental lightweight titles with a dominant decision over Miguel Madueno (31-3, 28 KOs).

Three scores of 99-91 won the competition for the man from Virginia.

Remaining Undercard

In the super featherweight division, Eridson Garcia also picked up a victory, defeating William Foster III (17-2, 11 KOs).

Two scores of 98-92 and the third 99-91 gave the victory to Garcia (19-1, 12 KO).

Over the course of eight rounds, Kelvin Davis (13-0, 7 KOs) defeated Kevin Johnson (12-4, 8 KOs) by majority decision in the welterweight division, while rising lightweight contender Abdullah Mason (14-0, 12 KOs) scored a third-round victory over Luis LeBron (20-6-1, 13 KOs).

Heavyweight prospect Ali Feliz (3-0, 2 KOs) fought all four rounds against Robinson Perez (2-1), while featherweight newcomer Keith Colon (1-0, 1 KO) stopped Hunter Turbyfill (4-2, 1 KO) in the second round of their contest.

The Skydome in Coventry hosted the championship action, with the Boxxer card topping the promoted card, Sam Eggington won the vacant IBO super welterweight title after a wide points victory over the previously undefeated Pole, Przemysław Zysk.

Eggington (32-7, KO18) was unbeaten in three meetings, with his last victory being a thrilling split decision victory over Bilel Jkitou last September, while Zysk (18-1, KO6) earned his first ten-round win in a victory over Juan Ruiz in November 2021.

Eggington worked his opponent unnecessarily challenging, but the Midlander rarely gets into a tedious fight and always finds a way to get involved. After two great first rounds, Eggington settled into a rhythm and eventually won by two scores of 119-109 and in the third 117-111.

Adam Azim (5-0, KO4) wasted no time in winning the vacant WBC Youth Intercontinental super lightweight title, defeating the Belgian Anthony Loffett (8-2, KO2) in the round. The 19-year-old dropped the guy with a slashing right hand inside the first thirty seconds, and although Loffet got the count down, he came under massive fire after the restart, and his corner kick ended in a draw.

The vacant English middleweight title was won by: Tyler Denny (14-2-3, KO0), setting the record for an undefeated team Wilson Bent River (12-1-1, KO5) after winning by split decision. The two met in November of last year when the contest was called a technical draw, but it was Denny’s attempt that won by scores of 97-93 and 96-93, with Wilson Bent’s 96-94 verdict being unnecessary.

2020 Olympic Bronze Medalist Karriss Artingstall (1-0, KO0) won every sixth round against Vaida Masiokaite (2-17-5, KO1) in the featherweight division.

Cory Gibbs (17-0, KO3) remained undefeated, winning 79-73 after eight rounds in the super lightweight division against Carlos Perez (17-7-2, KO2), being in the middleweight division, Aaron McKenna (15-0, KO8) stopped David Benitez (8-7, KO2) in seven.

Kaisee Benjamin (16-1-1, KO6) won the welterweight title 60-55 over six rounds against Serge Ambomo (7-31-3, KO3) and Shaquille Thompson (8-0, KO5) fought each other in every sixth round in the middleweight division Bartosz Głowacki (5-9-1, KO4).

Recent winner of the Boxxer tournament Dylan Cheema (6-0, KO1) won 39-37 Stu Greener (4-9, KO1) in four rounds in the lightweight and Scott Forrest (2-0, KO2) improved his record by stopping Toni Visic (20-33-2, KO5) after the fourth round in the cruiserweight division.