Sky makes another star

[garethhop]

This time he's 33. Liam Smith.

From Matchroom cast off to filling arenas and being all over the sportd pages. Surprised how mainstream that fight was.

Carragher and Eubank help of course but they are just a powerhouse.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Yeh well done.

Callum was always my favourite Smith brother.

They’re not the easiest to like.

It was after Liam left Frank I started liking him more.

Felt that he has just improved every year and taking on the harder fights gets you there.

People won’t put Smith as such an underdog anymore.

[Manchester Hitman]

I’m really happy for Smith, he’s always been very likeable. After 15 years he’s a big name in boxing.

I wonder what Eddie and alot of his stable were thinking watching last night. Atmosphere was electric and it was a very entertaining card.

Boxxer can really deliver on the PPVs and build stars.

Riakpore, CBS, Okolie will be mainstream soon.

[Steveh583]

Never got the unpopularity of the smith bros. Even Paul. Good honest pros who know the game inside out.

[tonyevs]

His record goes right against that of other UK fighters at the top. He has been fighting guys with winning records, often in their back yards, consistently since 2012 .. just the one gimmee-fight since then; thats an amazing record by any standards.

He is a proper old school fighter - it would be nice to see him get the financial rewards now after all these years.

[joshj909]

Boxrec ranks him at #2 in the division. Although it's only computerised rankings, it could ultimately lead to him a lot of bargaining power going forward or simply a target on his back because journalists will take note, officiating bodies will take note, champions and top contenders will take note.

Golovkin, both Charlos and Alimkhanuly are all reasonable targets if he beats Eubank in the rematch.

[tony1234]

Will certainly get a big fight after that and well deserved, about time Paul got another world title fight too

[forcefraser]

It's hard to like Paul Smith

[mickey1975]

It's hard to like Paul Smith

I do. He seems one of the most genuine people in the sport.

[Bercli]

I’m really happy for Smith, he’s always been very likeable. After 15 years he’s a big name in boxing.

I wonder what Eddie and alot of his stable were thinking watching last night. Atmosphere was electric and it was a very entertaining card.

Boxxer can really deliver on the PPVs and build stars.

Riakpore, CBS, Okolie will be mainstream soon.

Eddie's problem was he never learnt the game. No one in their right mind would leave such a big platform like Sky Sports. I was shocked when he left and just proved to me how much he does not know about boxing. He thought he would cash out and completely cocked it up.

[Counter-puncher]

Jimmy stone/sklar used to say Liam was the best of all the brothers

[daz74]

A Queensbury cast off too ……
Good to see him get the lime light.
Be interesting to see how his career goes now

[KiwiRider]

It's hard to like Paul Smith

You should have had a bet on him yesterday, it helps a lot, trust me

[wrighty]

Will certainly get a big fight after that and well deserved, about time Paul got another world title fight too

He's not had one for a few weeks lol

[mickey1975]

A Queensbury cast off too ……
Good to see him get the lime light.
Be interesting to see how his career goes now

He got a couple of great wins on DAZN, too. Obviously, he wanted a lot more exposure for his best performances so I’m pleased for him.

[stujones]

I like the Smith boys, Liam has admitted he is probably the least talented of the four....but he is clearly humble and hard work pays off as hes done the best imo.

[liamlion]

Good fight, sensational ending with a good buildup and some needle.

Sold out arena and great atmosphere and buzz. But disappointing and concerning that this level of fight was box office PPV. But the fighters need paying and so i suppose it is a necessary evil.

[Rezzer1967]

Surely, Eubank jr makes another star.

[garethhop]

Surely, Eubank jr makes another star.

Don't disagree! Did add that at the top. But Sky absolutely crucial in this country. I can only think of Tyson and Eubank out of the current and recent crop who have properly crossed over in any way to the mainstream sports spotlight without them.

[tonyevs]

I like the Smith boys, Liam has admitted he is probably the least talented of the four....but he is clearly humble and hard work pays off as hes done the best imo.

It's often the hardest workers rather than most naturally talented that achieve most.
When something comes easy it's easy to cut corners and not learn the hard lessons in life.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I like the Smith boys, Liam has admitted he is probably the least talented of the four....but he is clearly humble and hard work pays off as hes done the best imo.

It's often the hardest workers rather than most naturally talented that achieve most.
When something comes easy it's easy to cut corners and not learn the hard lessons in life.

Ronaldo v Messi

[tonyevs]

Dennis Andries and Carl Froch I was thinking as grafters with that core of steel.


I'm sure we can all think of kids we've seen pass through the gym who's names nobody would even recognize.

[tigermoth87]

Always said Liam Smith was underated. Robbed agsinst Kurbanov

[Twinkle Toes]

Rimming SKY sport because they put out a sub standard card with two domestic rivals headlining and put it on PPV.

Easily pleased.

[maverick23]

This time he's 33. Liam Smith.

From Matchroom cast off to filling arenas and being all over the sportd pages. Surprised how mainstream that fight was.

Carragher and Eubank help of course but they are just a powerhouse.

I don’t know if I’d go as far as Liam a star yet but, for me, it showed the power of Sky promotionally and how much Eubank helped sell it.

They did well to sell out the arena. Not many sell c.20,000 particularly in Jan with a cost of living crisis. Liverpool fans are good in the sense that if one of their own is in a real good fight then they’ll be there. If it’s a poor fight then they don’t often bother. Smith sold out the Echo against Fowler and the crowd were behind him for it so it’s not like he’s come from nowhere.

I think Boxxer/Sky picked a perfect weekend for it too. Not loads happening sport wise so they benefitted from that. Eddie did the opposite for his Leeds show where he goes head-to-head with an England World Cup quarter final.

I don’t think the fight crossed over massively with the bulk of the casual audience (out of my mates the only ones that watched were the boxing die hards) but it certainly generated far more publicity than any Liam Smith fight has in the past, particularly after the press conference which generated a fair bit of press.

Sky aren’t just massively ahead of DAZN, I think they’re in a different league to BT too in terms of pushing a big show.

Hopefully Smith continues to do well but I also hope Sky don’t mark him as a PPV fighter now. He’s only PPV in real big fights for me.