Liam Smith (boxer)

Liam Mark Smith (born 27 July 1988) is a British professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) light-middleweight title from 2015 to 2016. At regional level, he has held multiple light-middleweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles between 2012 and 2015.

Smith is the younger brother of Paul Smith and Stephen Smith, and the older brother of Callum Smith; all of whom are professional boxers.

Early life

Smith was born and raised in Liverpool, alongside his five siblings. Smith started boxing at Rotunda ABC during his teenage years and states boxing saved him from getting in trouble on the streets. He said: "I was doing other daft stuff, like getting brought home by police, smashing windows, fighting on the streets and other little silly things that lead up to going off the rails. But when I started boxing it would keep me in at night."

Amateur career

As an amateur, Smith fought for Rotunda ABC in Liverpool. He is a two-time winner of the ABA Championships, having won in 2007 and 2008, fighting at light welterweight. In 2007 he defeated Luke Gray (of Stevenage ABC) and in 2008 he defeated Steve Turner (of the British Army).

Professional career

Early career

Smith made his professional debut at light-middleweight on 10 October 2008 against Duncan Cottier at the Everton Park Sports Centre, Liverpool. In a four-round fight, Smith won on points as referee Steve Gray scored it (40–36). This was part of a stacked card by Queensberry Promotions which also had future world titlists such as Nathan Cleverly, Anthony Crolla, Tony Bellew as well as Smith's older brother Stephen. In his second pro fight, Smith defeated John Van Emmenis via first-round technical knockout (TKO). Smith only fought twice in 2009, outpointing Kevin McCauley and Darren Gethin in four round contests. Smith fought three times in 2010, first a 4-round points win over Billy Smith, a (38–38) points draw against Terry Carruthers and a second round TKO of veteran Matt Scriven. After a 9-month lay off, Smith fought twice again in 2011, a third-round knockout (KO) off Barrie Jones and a first-round KO of Gerard Healy. Healy dropped to one knee from a body shot and right uppercut and was counted out.

2012 was the most active year from Smith since his pro debut as he fought five times, an 8 rounds points win against Paul Morby, a first-round TKO win against Andrew Patterson, a six-round points win against Dee Mitchell and a 10-round points win against Gary McMillan, which was a British light-middleweight title eliminator. At the age of 24, this left Smith with a record of 12 wins, 5 by way of knockout, 1 draw and no losses.

British and Commonwealth champion

Smith had his last fight of 2015 on 15 December at the ExCel Arena in London, for the vacant Commonwealth light-middleweight title against Steve O'Meara (16–2, 5 KOs) in his first twelve-round fight. Smith knocked O'Meara down in round 1 and went on to win the fight on all three scorecards (118–110, 116–112 twice). After a 6-month gap, Smith returned to his hometown of Liverpool to defeat journeyman Max Maxwell on points over six rounds. Smith had his next tough fight on 21 September 2015, against Kenyan born Erick Ochieng (14–1, 4 KOs) at the Olympia. Smith won via twelve round unanimous decision on all scorecards (116–113, 117–112 twice) to win the vacant British light-middleweight title. In December, Smith successfully defended the title by stopping Mark Thompson (24–3, 15 KOs) in round 4. Thompson was down twice in the third round. In July 2014, Smith defended the title again, this time winning by way of knockout against Jason Welborn (15–2, 16 KOs) in round 6.

On 25 October 2014, Smith beat Zoltan Sera (16–2, 10 KOs) at the Echo Arena in Liverpool for the vacant WBA Continental light-middleweight title. Smith was cut above the right eye in a second round head clash which required 5 stitches, and Sera was knocked down in the third round as the fight came to an end. On 6 March 2015, Smith fought again at the Echo Arena, this time against Robert Talarek. Smith won via eighth-round TKO. A month later in April, Smith fought and defeated David Ezequiel Romero via seventh-round TKO to win the vacant WBO Inter-Continental light-middleweight title. Romero was knocked down once in the third round, twice in the fifth and once in the sixth before the fight came to an end. After the win, this left Smith with a record of 20 wins with 10 by knockout, 1 draw and no losses.

WBO junior middleweight champion

Smith vs. Thompson

It was announced in August 2015 that Smith would fight John Thompson (17–1, 6 KOs) for the WBO light-middleweight title, left vacant by Demetrius Andrade. Smith was initially supposed to fight Frenchman Michel Soro, only for an internal issue with promoters Top Rank to force him out. The fight took place on 10 October at the Manchester Arena, Manchester. Smith became the new WBO champion after seeing off Thompson with a seventh-round knockout. Smith slowly grew into the fight following a defensive first few rounds. By the time the sixth round came, Smith, was on the rise after a few well-placed jabs and produced the decisive punch in the seventh, causing the referee to wave the fight in his favour.

Smith vs. Kelly, Radosevic

On 19 December 2015, Smith returned to the Manchester Arena on the undercard of Andy Lee vs. Billy Joe Saunders WBO middleweight title fight. Smith dominated 'Jimmy' Kilrain Kelly (16–0, 7 KOs), making the first successful defense of his WBO title. Kelly was deducted two points in the sixth round for illegal head butting, and stopped late in the seventh round. Kelly produced a brave display against the more experienced champion. Despite Smith dominating the contest, Kelly showed his potential, troubling Smith on occasions in almost every round.

On 9 May 2016, Smith announced he would defend his WBO title against Predrag Radosevic (30–1, 11 KOs) at the Echo Arena on 4 June. This was Smith's second defence of his new title in his home city of Liverpool. This was announced after Austin Trout backed out. Smith won the fight in the second round to retain his world title. This was Smith's eighth consecutive knockout victory.

Smith vs. Álvarez

On 24 June 2016, it was announced that Smith would make the third defence of his world title against Mexican Canelo Álvarez (47–1–1, 33 KOs) on 17 September in the main event on an HBO PPV card. Golden Boy Promotions announced on 18 July that the bout will take place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The other venue looking to host the fight was the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight was contested at the official light-middleweight limit of 154 lbs and not 155 lbs, a weight in which Álvarez had fought his last 5 fights.

Smith lost his first fight as a professional when he was knocked down following a vicious left hook to the body in round 9. Smith, who lost his world title, was dropped once in round 7 and once in round 8. Álvarez was in control from the opening bell. The fight broke the boxing attendance record at the stadium, with an announcement of 51,240. Álvarez landed 157 punches from 422 thrown with a connect rate of 37%, compared to Smith 115 from 403 thrown, a connect rate of 29%. Golden Boy Promotions later announced the fight drew an estimated 300,000 ppv buys.

Road to world title challenge

In January 2017, negotiations began for a fight between Smith and 24 year old fellow Brit Liam Williams (16–0–1, 11 KOs), who were said to be long standing rivals, to take place on 8 April 2017. At an official press conference on 23 January, promoter Frank Warren announced the fight would take place at the Manchester Arena in Manchester on 8 April, as a co-feature with Terry Flanagan's WBO lightweight title defence against Petr Petrov. Early reports indicated it would be for the WBO world title, however Álvarez had not vacated. Instead Williams would be defending his WBO European title. Smith later said that fighting Williams, unless a world title is on the line, would be a backwards step for his career.

On 18 March 2017 Smith traveled to Spain and fought a four-round fight, winning on points. He defeated journeyman Marian Cazacu at the Club Entrena in Barcelona. This was under the radar as it was never mentioned prior to the fight.