Joe Smith Jr., Callum Johnson agreed on January 15 for an ESPN lightweight heavyweight match

Joe Smith Jr. and Callum Johnson have agreed on terms for the lightweight heavyweight championship that will be the title of the ESPN program on Jan. 15 at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, sources told ESPN.

Smith (27-3, 21 KOs) had to defend his title against Umar Salamov 30. October before he was hospitalized for COVID-19. Top Rank was planning to postpone the match again, but Salamov from Russia faced visa problems, sources said.

Instead, Smith, 32, meets England in a battle with Johnson to hit fighting-minded punches.

Smith, a native of Long Island, New York, won the championship in April with a majority decision on Maxim Vlasov. With the win, Smith rose to 3rd place in the ESPN Lightweight rankings.

The fight was Smith’s second crack after his failed bid against Dmitry Bivola. The former construction worker was held lightly before he shocked Andrzej Fonfara in the first round of the KO attack in 2016, followed by an even greater shock, the knockout of Bernard Hopkins in a farewell match at Hall of Famer.

According to sources, if Smith gets to the top in his first defense of his championship, his plan is to fight Daniel Jacobs later in 2022. Jacobs, a former middleweight champion now campaigning for 168 pounds, will jump £ 175 to get a chance.

Meanwhile, Smith will have to deal with Johnson, a 36-year-old man who struggled on his way to victory in the majority decision against traveler Server Emurlaev last month.

Johnson (20-1, 14 KO) is best known for his four-round firefight with Artur Beterbiev, ESPN’s lightweight No. 1 in his lonely championship challenge. In that 2018 match, Johnson was left on the floor in the opening round, but he dropped the champion in the next round before reaching the finish in the fourth round.