By Keith Idec

Sullivan Barrera knows Joe Smith Jr. can punch.

The light heavyweight contender is not so sure Smith can take a punch nearly as well as he delivers one. Barrera considers Smith’s chin a weakness and intends to exploit it when they fight Saturday night in Inglewood, California. Their 12-round, 175-pound bout will be part of an HBO “Boxing After Dark” tripleheader from The Forum.

“He showed in the Fonfara fight that he doesn’t have a chin,” Barrera told BoxingScene.com through a translator. “He obviously has a very powerful punch, but that’s what I’m gonna take advantage of. I feel he was [hurt] with Fonfara.”

Poland’s Fonfara appeared to buzz Smith with two short left hooks just before Smith drilled Fonfara (29-5, 17 KOs, 1 NC) with a right hand that led to his stunning, first-round technical knockout victory in June 2016. That career-changing win in Chicago helped Long Island’s Smith secure a December 17 bout against former undisputed light heavyweight and middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins.

Smith knocked Hopkins out of the ring and won their bout by eighth-round knockout at The Forum.

“We know that he’s a very powerful guy,” Barrera said. “We know the errors he makes. I’m also a guy with power. My plan is to make sure I make him miss July 15th and use my power as well.

“I don’t underestimate his skills. He’s got skills. But he’s willing to come forward and willing to take a punch to impose his power and get his punch off. That’s what I’m gonna take advantage of. That’s where I’m gonna impose my power and my skills, when he tries to do that.”

Despite the flaws he sees in Smith (23-1, 19 KOs), the Cuban-born Barrera (19-1, 14 KOs) gives him credit for how he handled Philadelphia’s Hopkins (55-8-2, 32 KOs, 2 NC). Hopkins was 51 and hadn’t fought in two years when he entered the ring against Smith.

“That’s a very respectable win,” Barrera said. “I admire and respect Hopkins for getting into the ring at 52 years old. But at the end of the day, he wasn’t throwing much. It wasn’t like he was pressing Smith or giving Smith something to be worried about. And Smith obviously did what he had to do. At the end of the day, he still beat Bernard Hopkins, beat a guy who has all the experience and the skills to beat pretty much anyone in the light heavyweight division.”

Barrera-Smith will be part of an HBO broadcast set to start at 9:50 p.m. ET.

Mexico’s Miguel Berchelt (31-1, 28 KOs) will defend his WBC world super featherweight title against Japan’s Takashi Miura (31-3-2, 24 KOs) in the 12-round main event. Panama’s Jezreel Corrales (21-1, 8 KOs, 1 NC), the WBA world super featherweight champion, will meet Mexico’s Robinson Castellanos (24-12, 14 KOs) in the third televised fight, also a 12-rounder.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.