Joe Smith Jr. takes out Eleider Alvarez

Joe Smith Jr. entered the ring against former light heavyweight champion Eleider Alvarez an underdog.

The hard-hitting Smith exited a sensational knock out winner by stopping Alvarez in round nine inside the “The Bubble” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Saturday night.

Smith, who will never be called a pretty fighter, imposed his will on Alvarez from the opening bell, pounding the older man with whipping right hands and left hooks.

He also used his jab effectively leaving Alvarez, who many thought would outbox Smith, searching for answers.

Smith (26-3, 21 KOs) was way ahead on all three judges’ scorecards heading into the fateful ninth round. A heavy right stunned Alvarez (25-2, 13 KOs) followed by a power jab that knocked the former champ the through the ropes. From there he was unable to beat the count.

“Coming into this camp, I knew I had to work on my boxing,” said Smith. ”I wanted to be sharp, throw a lot of straight punches. I watched his fight with {Sergey} Kovalev, and Kovalev kind of set the way to beat him. So we watched that and worked off of it.

“Every time he hit me, I wanted to come and stop him in his tracks, and I did that. I stuck to my game plan, and it was a great fight.”

Smith is now in line for a second shot at light heavyweight championship honors.