Joe Smith Jr. isn’t the only fighter getting a new opponent for his Jan. 15 bout.

Abraham Nova will now be facing William Encarnacion in the ten-round featherweight co-feature bout underneath Smith’s WBO light heavyweight title defense against an opponent to be determined at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, N.Y. Smith was scheduled to face Callum Johnson before the British contender withdrew after testing positive for COVID-19.

Nova (20-0, 14 KOs) of Albany, N.Y. was originally scheduled to face Jose Enrique Vivas (21-1, 11 KOs) before Vivas withdrew due to an injury, according to a Top Rank source.

Encarnacion (19-1, 15 KOs) of San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic will be fighting for the first time outside of his native country. He has won once since his lone defeat, a fourth round knockout to the unbeaten Giovanni Gutierrez in 2019. Encarnacion didn’t fight for 15 months after that, defeating Donny Garcia by a six-round decision, before sitting out all of 2021.

Nova, 27, is coming off a unanimous decision over Filipino journeyman Richard Pumicpic in August.

The doubleheader will air live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, beginning at 10 p.m.

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