According to Star Boxing CEO Joe DeGaurdia, the WBO has ordered New York's Joe Smith Jr. (pictured) to face Maxim Vlasov of Russia for the vacant WBO light heavyweight title. The title was last held by Saul "Canelo" Alvarez who KO's Sergey Kovalev, but Alvarez vacated and will be fighting at super middleweight next month. The WBO tried to organize a four-man tournament to fill the vacancy, and Smith (26-3) defeated another Alvarez, Eleider Alvarez, in his half of the bracket. The other proposed fight, between Vlasov (45-3) and Umar Salamov, never got off the ground, so Vlasov is now going straight to Alvarez. Salamov's fate is unclear as of now. Smith and Vlasov will have some time to negotiate a fight, but if that cannot be done soon, the WBO will order a purse bid. DeGuardia, who has promoted Smith for many years tweeted, "Can’t wait! I love watching Joe Smith Jr. fight... He is such a hard-working guy. He puts [so] much into this and to have a year like we’ve had, he epitomizes the work ethic of the working person. I’m happy it’s paying off for him.”