Why does Paul smith get such a rough time on here?

[wesshaw1985]

Smith vs. Douglin next, back in Liverpool...

[handsofstone]

Smith vs. Douglin next, back in Liverpool...

Great can't wait, Douglin's mum will be in his corner and Smith can have his nan there

[Bosh Dorigo]

Flattering shot of the Smith 'waistline'

[digzee]

Smith vs. Douglin next, back in Liverpool...

That's a load of rubbish, I hear he's fighting klitschko for all the belts, lets be honest he's more deserving then Fury.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

Paul Smith........... he is a great role model for all aspiring boxer's I must admit I'd never heard of the bloke before the 1st Abraham fight
but the hard word and belief that he must posses is something that he should be proud of and people of all walk's of life should take some notice.

[magwitch]

Smith looked like a geezer from the boozer who took his shirt off for a scrap in the car park. Fat pig. Hearn should be embarrassed by the shite he puts on Sky.

i was actually going to ask, based on what I'd been reading up until I saw your post, if Smith really looked fat. No need now!

I haven't watched this, but is anybody giving any credit remotely to the geezer that's just had 19 months off or whatever and then just hopped back in there, and by the sounds of it, rolled of Paul Smith like he wasn't even there? The bloke must clearly be good at what he does as Smith has learnt a few things in this game by now and is far from a "bum".

[macaca]

Tut tut magwitch, troll alert, you know your boxing a little, yes Paul knows the ins and outs of boxing, he gets paid by sky for his savy.
No one can discredit Ward for the comeback after the lay off, it was great, but what was he fighting.
We need to know the full Smith story about this ... I certainly would have thought is wise to lose 4 or 5 pounds worth 15,000 dollars or should I say at the risk of being docked that sum. I would have liked to be in my prime to fight the best on a possible wain or a mega opportunity ...... it is crazy this one as to what happened, I don't care about the weight and for me it is not about taking the money, 160k dollars doesn't last you for the remainder of your career, (if you retire or drop to domestic) sky punditry keeps you a wage ... so I don't see him being in it for the money, he wasn't in it for the glory based on the way he went about it .... strange, very strange

[Lenny]

Ward looked okay hitting that xl Paul Smith shaped punchbag for a few rounds. Sure, he could probably have ended it sooner by targeting the body to bring down the high guard but decided instead to just punch through it. Interesting gameplan from Smith of hide for 6 rounds and then land a surprise attack in the 7th. Ward was definitely surprised at a punch being thrown. All in all a pretty pointless experience. Ward would have had tougher sparring over the last year and a bit and Smith got payed a bit to completely destroy his reputation. He's never been an exciting fighter and surely now sky put a fork in him

[Bosh Dorigo]

That's pretty decent of Ward.

[Tomasino]

That's pretty decent of Ward.

Must be a wee thank you for Paul making it super easy on him by not throwing punches.

[freddydoesdallas]

That's pretty decent of Ward.

Pretty stupid in my book. Why give something away that hasn't been earned. This will only encourage people to not bother with making weight

[Counter-puncher]

Ward looked okay hitting that xl Paul Smith shaped punchbag for a few rounds. Sure, he could probably have ended it sooner by targeting the body to bring down the high guard but decided instead to just punch through it. Interesting gameplan from Smith of hide for 6 rounds and then land a surprise attack in the 7th. Ward was definitely surprised at a punch being thrown. All in all a pretty pointless experience. Ward would have had tougher sparring over the last year and a bit and Smith got payed a bit to completely destroy his reputation. He's never been an exciting fighter and surely now sky put a fork in him

[Bard of Boxrec]

Smith did about as well as he could have done. Landed a couple of shots late in the fight. Throwing punches against Ward is hard enough for top guys since there are no openings vs that defence. For someone like Smith it was nigh on impossible.

[m1kee50]

Smith used to post on here, and his style on here was quite similar to a lot of his tweets, we're all entitled to have our opinions but I think the problem arose at the fault line between Smith (or any boxer for that matter) thinking he has the final say on matters involving him, and the fan/forum poster thinking that as a paying consumer of boxing tickets, or a Sky subscriber, he has a right to disagree on the performance of a fighter or the matchmaking involved. There's plenty on here, matchmakers/backroom boys, fighters, refs, who think that the fans are too mouthy and too opinionated. (plenty that dont share that view mind you) Smith in a sense became the poster child for that tendency.

Smith was typically defensive on Twitter before the fight, more successfully than he manages with gloves on...

IMO this fight shouldn't have been made. Smith taking the fight offered, is a no-brainer, and I can sympathise with him to that extent, I'd have taken it (you want to see someone NOT make 172 lbs!), knowing full well what was going to happen.

That said, the main criticism, that Smith didnt deserve the fight, is as much a knock on Ward and the process/people involved as it is on smith. if you only tweet smith about it tho its going to look like an attack on him solely.

Having been resolutely confirmed as not belonging to world title level by two (competitive) losses to Abraham (and lets face it were it not for the dodgy scoring there'd have been no second fight) to then be offered the ward fight seemed like a massive overestimation of the ring-rust ward would suffer (and nearly every single commenter was right on that score) and of the level of Smiths ability. He can win at British title level but he's not a world class fighter, theres no shame in that!

[bripez]

I have just looked at the weigh in video for this fight.

For the first time ever I felt sorry for Smith - he actually looked embarrassed when he walked out without his top on and quite a few members of the audience actually laughed when he walked out.

To be fair he looks better than I do, but no-where near what a full time athlete should look like.

[jamiedavies02]

I blame Amir Khan. He's the link between Gallaghers gym and the Ward camp, "jobs for the boys" mentality.

[Lenny]

Smith has put it down to water retention. I read it in the MEN earlier. He said he should have gone over earlier as he couldn’t shift the weight during fight week.

I hate it when I get in shape to go on holiday and have love handles by the time the plane lands.

[ThereByTheGrace]

Smith has put it down to water retention. I read it in the MEN earlier. He said he should have gone over earlier as he couldn’t shift the weight during fight week.

I hate it when I get in shape to go on holiday and have love handles by the time the plane lands.

[magwitch]

Smith used to post on here, and his style on here was quite similar to a lot of his tweets, we're all entitled to have our opinions but I think the problem arose at the fault line between Smith (or any boxer for that matter) thinking he has the final say on matters involving him, and the fan/forum poster thinking that as a paying consumer of boxing tickets, or a Sky subscriber, he has a right to disagree on the performance of a fighter or the matchmaking involved. There's plenty on here, matchmakers/backroom boys, fighters, refs, who think that the fans are too mouthy and too opinionated. (plenty that dont share that view mind you) Smith in a sense became the poster child for that tendency.

Smith was typically defensive on Twitter before the fight, more successfully than he manages with gloves on...

IMO this fight shouldn't have been made. Smith taking the fight offered, is a no-brainer, and I can sympathise with him to that extent, I'd have taken it (you want to see someone NOT make 172 lbs!), knowing full well what was going to happen.

That said, the main criticism, that Smith didnt deserve the fight, is as much a knock on Ward and the process/people involved as it is on smith. if you only tweet smith about it tho its going to look like an attack on him solely.

Having been resolutely confirmed as not belonging to world title level by two (competitive) losses to Abraham (and lets face it were it not for the dodgy scoring there'd have been no second fight) to then be offered the ward fight seemed like a massive overestimation of the ring-rust ward would suffer (and nearly every single commenter was right on that score) and of the level of Smiths ability. He can win at British title level but he's not a world class fighter, theres no shame in that!

Columbo wound up Smith, that was the final straw I think. Then he disappeared himself to moderate a much smaller site.

[Monte Fisto]

That's pretty decent of Ward.

Pretty stupid in my book. Why give something away that hasn't been earned. This will only encourage people to not bother with making weight

Ward is a class act, more people should back him. He deserves to be the star attraction!

[Bard of Boxrec]

That's pretty decent of Ward.

Pretty stupid in my book. Why give something away that hasn't been earned. This will only encourage people to not bother with making weight

Plus Ward slammed Smith before the fight for being unprofessional, now he reimburses him? Which one is it Andre?

[Batley18]

I am sure Smith has huge regrets about the weight issue. He is a very professional guy, and I am sure that no one will be more embarrassed than he is. I have a lot of time for him, both as a boxer and a pundit. Speaks well, and boxes for his family. Top bloke imo.

[jamesmcdonnell]

That's pretty decent of Ward.

Pretty stupid in my book. Why give something away that hasn't been earned. This will only encourage people to not bother with making weight

Plus Ward slammed Smith before the fight for being unprofessional, now he reimburses him? Which one is it Andre?

Maybe he thought better of it - hardly a crime to change your mind is it?

[Kingfield]

eddie hearn and paul smith both saying it was down to water retention.

do they not know the difference between water and fat?

[Bosh Dorigo]

I am sure Smith has huge regrets about the weight issue. He is a very professional guy, and I am sure that no one will be more embarrassed than he is. I have a lot of time for him, both as a boxer and a pundit. Speaks well, and boxes for his family. Top bloke imo.