Smith all set to fight for his lost world title
LIAM Smith is one step closer to becoming world champion again after defeating domestic rival Liam Williams during their muchanticipated rematch.
Smith, who is trained by Joe Gallagher at his gym in Bolton, defeated Williams by majority decision at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.
The fight served as a final eliminator for the WBO light-middleweight title, which Miguel Cotto currently holds.
Cotto has revealed that he plans to retire after his scheduled defence against Sadam Ali next month, meaning that Smith may contest a vacant title, but he doesn’t mind who he fights as long as he wins the belt.
“I’ll be happy to face Cotto or face somebody else for the vacant belt. All my aim has been since losing the title is to win it again,” he said.
“It was a nip and tuck fight against Williams and I thought I outboxed a very good boxer.
“I showed I had a good jab and I proved to people who think all I can do is walk forward that I can also use my legs.
“I didn’t like how the last fight with him panned out but I’ve always had respect for him.
“I knew what was on offer after this fight but I didn’t want to look past Williams and I’m glad to get the win.”
The win means that Smith now has a record of 26 wins, one draw and one defeat, with that loss coming when he was beaten by Canelo Alvarez for his WBO title back in September 2016.
On the undercard, there were wins for two of Ricky Hatton’s fighters, as Oldham boxer Mark Heffron became the first man to stop Lewis Taylor inside the distance when he defeated him by seventh round stoppage.
It means that Heffron has now extended his unbeaten record to 18 wins and no defeats, with 14 of those wins coming by knockout.
Hatton’s heavyweight prospect Nathan Gorman was also victorious, as he beat Mohamed Soltby by fifth round stoppage to win the vacant WBC International Silver heavyweight belt. Gorman is also unbeaten in his career, with that win taking his record to 11-0, with nine wins inside the distance. It was a busy weekend of boxing, as on a bill at Victoria Warehouse, Joe Murray kept his hopes of getting a British title shot alive with an eighth round stoppage against Felix Venganayi.
Murray is now targeting a fight against British champion Lewis Ritson early next year.
On the undercard, Bilal Rehman took his record to 10-0 after a onesided points win against Brandon Naude, while Ben Sheedy was unlucky to be given a draw against Barend van Rooyen after eight rounds, with many onlookers believing Sheedy won.
All my aim has been since losing the title is to win it again Liam Smith