This was a show that was meant to celebrate Liverpool's fighters, with unbeaten home favourite Steve Smith the clear favourite in his home town, his brother to follow on the bill, and Tony Bellew and David Price in the studio for Sky. Unfortunately no-one had given Lee Selby a copy of the script. Selby came in as a major underdog in a fight where Smith was expected to showcase his boxing skills, but instead it turned into a straight-up scrap from start until finish.
The fight started at a frantic pace and rarely let up with neither boxer that interested in defence, preferring instead to rely on their ability to out-punch their opponent. Selby was trying to land big, single punches from outside in the first round and Smith was trying to get inside and do his work up close. Neither were that effective. As the fight progressed though Selby starting picking his punches and putting together combinations and was landing the more eye-catching punches.
It was a fight that was very difficult to score because Smith was showing more aggression and pushing forward, but he was regularly being picked off by some quality shots, albeit ones that appeared to be having little effect on him. It was largely toe-to-toe stuff though and a test of stamina as it is impossible to keep taking punches and not have them sap your energy. Given the tightness of the fight and the fact that he was in Smiths' backyard, Selby probably knew he needed a knock-out and it came dramatically in the eighth.
Smith had just started to show signs of being tired when he was caught flush with a big left hand and crumpled to the floor. It was obvious from the way he fell that he'd not be getting up, and was possibly even unconscious, with the ref quick to wave it off and call in the medical team, but thankfully within a couple of minutes he was back on his feet for the official result. It was a massive upset but a well deserved win for Selby, who had been the cleaner puncher throughout.
Super Middleweight: Paul Smith TKO1 Paul Samuels
After seeing his brother knocked unconscious there were questions as to how Smith would be affected when his fight started. Turns out the answer was 'not much'. Samuels is a veteran who may have been good enough for this fight once, but certainly isn't now. Smith was happy to draw him on, pick his punches from the back foot, and then open up once he saw the opportunity. The referee rightly stopped the fight when Samuels was knocked down for the second time.
In his post-fight interview it was obvious how much the earlier fight had affected Smith and it is testament to his professionalism that he was able to block it out once the bell rang. He then called for a match with George Groves, which would be a far more competitive occasion than this one.
Light Middleweight: Liam Smith KO3 Barrie Jones
The youngest of the Smith brothers was the first up on the card and put on an impressive performance against a decent journeyman. He was clean and precise with his punches, always looking to move forward, and kept a high guard which absorbed most of Jones' jabs. After a good couple of rounds he hurt Jones in the third and then showed class in his finishing, hunting him down around the ring and picking his punches, before ending it with a left to the ribs. An impressive performance.
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