Round-by-Round: Liam Smith vs. Liam Williams II - 11 November 2017

[BrumBlue]

I watched it in a pub with no commentary and didn’t read any of the comments on here until just and I had it 114-114.

I do feel if anyone nicked it, it was Smith but the 116-112 and 117-111 card seem far too wide.

[Andrew]

I just can't see how Smith won that fight. I'll rewatch the fight over the Christmas period and see if I have it differently.

I just have to accept. Smith is going to be a two time world champion next year.

He'll fight a waster for the vacant belt and then defend against wasters for a couple of years, no chance he goes near other good fighters at the weight. The WBO rankings will offer plenty of poor defences like Kelly and Radosevic previously.

There's no one for him to cash out against now like Canelo. You just have to hope Arum has some decent guy at light middle coming through who will get mandated.

[handsofstone]

Intriguing watch but not a patch on the 1st fight, I had it a 114-114 draw, I had Williams up 4-1 after 5 rounds but Smith came back into it, his jab was key, there wasn't a lot in most of the rounds, I was surprised by the lack of workrate by Williams, maybe he was worried about Smith coming on strong like the 1st fight and was keeping reserves in the tank, it was a chess match, both guys weary of letting the other guy take intititive and there wasn't a lot of action

Different side of Smith we seen tonight, not as aggressive as usual but got away with it in the end, think Williams will be kicking himself slightly though, never threw as many combinations as usual

[BitPlayer]

Suprised at the amount of complaints about the decision. I do think dislike of people really clouds judgement. Smith jabbed and spoiled pretty effectively, blocked a ton of Williams's work. WIlliams had a few flashes, but not consitently enough to win the fights.

[Coco]

While I thought Williams won clearly, if you had to be really critical, you could say he should have beaten up Smith more, to really wrest the belt from the champion rather than just winning the rounds.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Suprised at the amount of complaints about the decision. I do think dislike of people really clouds judgement. Smith jabbed and spoiled pretty effectively, blocked a ton of Williams's work. WIlliams had a few flashes, but not consitently enough to win the fights.

If that's the case then people would have scored it 120-108 for Williams..

[jonp]

While I thought Williams won clearly, if you had to be really critical, you could say he should have beaten up Smith more, to really wrest the belt from the champion rather than just winning the rounds.

Ws there a belt on the line ??i lose track

[magnus]

Why wasn't Williams' British title on the line?

[Andrew]

Even the highlights make it look like Williams won

https://mobile.twitter.com/BTSportBoxin ... 6523827200

[Coco]

While I thought Williams won clearly, if you had to be really critical, you could say he should have beaten up Smith more, to really wrest the belt from the champion rather than just winning the rounds.

Ws there a belt on the line ??i lose track

I assumed there was, actually I lose track too! It was a 12 round fight and Smith won the last one, so I guessed yes, but I don't know.

[liamlion]

For some reason it wasn't a pretty spectacle. Failed to catch fire and slightly disappointed me. Williams just didn't get going and Smith scraped by. I think both of their stock has dipped a little after that.

[Twinkle Toes]

Williams hasn't the engine for the championship rounds in my opinion. He was less aggressive in this fight because he didn't want to gas. At least that's how it looked to me.

Smith won the last two comfortably, and Williams seemed relieved to hear the final bell. I thought it was a close fight, but didn't score it. Felt it could have gone either way.

I think it showed Smith is not word elite, more fringe world class.

[ScottDetonator]

I had it all even going into the last round. Smith by 1 point.

Has anything been said about an injury to Williams? He looked to injure his right hand or arm early on? For me that cost him the fight. Something went.

[Realistic]

Liam Williams damaged both hands during the fight.

[CaptainSpacerod]

Best part of the night was Rawling, completely wankered, handing over to “Ronald Macdonald” for an interview.

[broomy7s]

There's such a bias against the Smith's on here that it definitely clouds people's judgement I think. The first 4/5 rounds were very close. A couple of the scores for Williams on here are laughable really

Well said mate. Agree 100%. Thought smith outboxed him and I really didn't expect that. Williams knew he lost and so did his corner, can always tell by body language.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Is this getting moved into the Round By Round forum?

[Boxerbeetle]

Is this getting moved into the Round By Round forum?

I hope not, no-one ever posts in that forum anymore so this thread will be forgotten about.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Is this getting moved into the Round By Round forum?

I hope not, no-one ever posts in that forum anymore so this thread will be forgotten about.

But it would still be there and at the top and not lost in this forum.. It would be easier to find there.

[jamamb]

threads shouldnt be moved there until at least falling off the first page. for i think the burnett fight it was confusing because ppl were still talking about it and then it moved. but once the convo has pretty much ended fair dos.

[Ruthless-RKO]

threads shouldnt be moved there until at least falling off the first page. for i think the burnett fight it was confusing because ppl were still talking about it and then it moved. but once the convo has pretty much ended fair dos.

Ahh I see. Well I guess, I've kinda helped the thread.. keeping it on the first page.

[Jackson328]

Watched this again last night (minus the commentary) and still thought Smith won, unfortunately.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Watched this again last night (minus the commentary) and still thought Smith won, unfortunately.

You actually put urself through that again?

[jamamb]

not at all questioning jacksons rewatching, but ive always thought that a lot of the ppl who say they rewatched it didnt actually do it. its just so easy to make a quick lie that on the surface makes your argument stronger (cus you make sure it your first scoring wasnt an anomaly and that you went to extra measures to be sure)

ive seen ppl within like hours of a controversial fight say they watched it like 4-5 times, as if it makes their opinion more credible. you even get ppl proudly saying they rewatched awful fights in slow mo

[Jackson328]

Watched this again last night (minus the commentary) and still thought Smith won, unfortunately.

You actually put urself through that again?

It was actually more intriguing the second time around, the sound muted makes it almost surreal but definitely allows you to be more objective in my opinion, plus I wasn't half-pissed as it wasn't Saturday night!

not at all questioning jacksons rewatching, but ive always thought that a lot of the ppl who say they rewatched it didnt actually do it. its just so easy to make a quick lie that on the surface makes your argument stronger (cus you make sure it your first scoring wasnt an anomaly and that you went to extra measures to be sure)

ive seen ppl within like hours of a controversial fight say they watched it like 4-5 times, as if it makes their opinion more credible. you even get ppl proudly saying they rewatched awful fights in slow mo

Very good and fair points jamamb

The main reason I watched it again is because I really wanted Williams to win the fight and was personally gutted at the result even though I felt it was a fair reflection on what I saw last Saturday night, admittedly under the influence of alcohol. I was therefore very surprised at the amount of people who thought Williams was a clear winner and lots of posters who I like and respect on here were amongst the critics of the judges scoring, I thought I had my Liams mixed up at one point! I wondered how influenced I may have been by the relaxation of a Saturday night at home drinking and also by the BT commentary team, Barry Jones in particular was all over Smiths work.

I didn't keep in touch with the RBR thread on here during the fight and the only outside influence was via text to my son in between rounds, he also had Smith winning but even more clearly than I did. I posted in the RBR thread during the Leather vs Foot chief support bout and I had Leather winning that one although that fight also seemed to divide opinions on here so maybe I was perturbed by the differing opinions.

Just for the record I quite often rewatch a fight on a Sunday morning and most often stay with my original thoughts although I changed my mind after rewatching the GGG/Canelo bout in September and actually had Canelo shading it by a point