Hard-hitting light heavyweight contender Joe Smith Jr. (23-1, 19 KOs) held court in front of a gaggle of New York City media on Tuesday afternoon at the Mendez Boxing Gym ahead of his highly anticipated 10-round clash with fellow contender Sullivan Barrera (19-1, 14 KOs) set for July 15 at The Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles, California and televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark.

Joe Smith Jr: “It feels great to be fighting on HBO, I’m looking forward to it, I’m in great shape and ready to put on a tremendous performance against Sullivan Barrera. I’d still like to fight Adonis Stevenson, I was ready this year and I’ll be ready at any time but now my focus is solely on this fight. I’ll definitely be going back to working for the union in the future when I’m not training for a fight, it’s a great job and they’ve been very supportive of me throughout my career.”