BoxRec

Chambers2 wrote:I don't recall anybody saying anything bad about Smigga on here before this weekend, now there's a succession of people claiming that they 'never rated him', 'not been impressed in a while with Smith', 'Smith's overrated', 'I've been expecting this to happen'.... very reactionary posts IMO.

Maybe McGirt is trying to get him to try new things and they're not sitting well with Smigga at the mo, maybe it was just a bad day at the office

Chambers2 wrote:I don't recall anybody saying anything bad about Smigga on here before this weekend, now there's a succession of people claiming that they 'never rated him', 'not been impressed in a while with Smith', 'Smith's overrated', 'I've been expecting this to happen'.... very reactionary posts IMO.

Maybe McGirt is trying to get him to try new things and they're not sitting well with Smigga at the mo, maybe it was just a bad day at the office

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:

Chambers2 wrote:I don't recall anybody saying anything bad about Smigga on here before this weekend, now there's a succession of people claiming that they 'never rated him', 'not been impressed in a while with Smith', 'Smith's overrated', 'I've been expecting this to happen'.... very reactionary posts IMO.

Maybe McGirt is trying to get him to try new things and they're not sitting well with Smigga at the mo, maybe it was just a bad day at the office

I know Chambers, quite a few people on here get on my wick with stuff like this...coming out of the woodwork, etc.

I certainly felt - and still feel - that Paul Smith can make it to British title level at the very least and, perhaps, beyond.

As for his heart not being in boxing, I spoke to him a few weeks ago and the lad is completely obsessed with the sport. Perhaps the defeat just made him look downhearted and understandably so too.

Would like to see a full video of this fight to see how it went - and I respect 'd' so if he says it was a bit of a dodgy verdict, perhaps there's something in that. But I would have expected Smigga to not leave a match against Bendall in any doubt in the first place.

DEVASTATED Paul Smith was picking up the pieces of his boxing career today after being robbed of his English title and unbeaten record in the Midlands.

The 25-year-old middleweight was still some way off his best as he slugged his way through 10 scrappy rounds with Coventry's Steve Bendall, but looked to have done more than enough to secure a comfortable points victory.

However, referee Mark Green had other ideas and silenced the near capacity crowd inside the National Indoor Arena by raising Bendall's arm after the final bell.

The way Bendall celebrated – like he'd won the lottery – best reflected the bizarre decision of the third man in the ring. Promoter allegedly led the remonstrations at ringside.

Smith took the decision on the chin, shaking hands with his opponent and remaining in the ring while the new champion escaped with his domestic crown, but once the significance of the defeat sinks in it's unlikely that Smith and his team will take the controversial judgement lying down.

Not only has he lost his spotless 24-fight unbeaten run in the paid ranks – but also his ranking as number one contender for the British title and with it his international profile.

“I can't believe it,” Smith said afterwards as he headed home without his belt and with half a dozen stitches in a cut over his right eye. “I know I didn't box well but I didn't even think the decision was close.”

It wasn't. Or, at least, it should not have been. Bendall had failed to make any real impact on the fight for the first eight rounds.

Smith, still some way off recreating the performances of earlier in his career, dominated from the centre of the ring and constantly pushed Bendall up against the ropes before chopping away with hooks and uppercuts.

The 34-year-old challenger wobbled three or four times in the first half of the fight as Smith teed off and it took an incredibly brave effort from him to simply survive the onslaught for 10 hard rounds.

On my card I gave Bendall the last two sessions, purely as Smith was tiring and the Midlander, roared on by a corner team screaming at him to go looking for a knockout, desperately swung away to try to turn the fight on its head.

However, experienced official Green awarded Bendall an outrageous 96-94 scoreline, which means that he scored only four of the 10 rounds in Smith's favour.

The fight was up close and personal from the opening bell and could have been staged in a phone box.

And while that made for some messy rounds and plenty of punching and holding, Smith was clearly in control.

Bendall's only role in the opening seven rounds was a brief rally in the third, and then just staying on his feet while taking some big shots to the head and body.

A hat-trick of overhand rights in the fourth round had the crowd gasping as Smith drove forward, while two neck snapping uppercuts in the fifth were followed by a neat left and right combination from which Bendall looked unlikely to recover.

By this stage Smith was flying and was having little trouble negotiating the challenger’s southpaw style. The fight wasn't pretty or vintage Paul Smith, but he was getting the job done.

Both started opening up more into the seventh as Bendall got desperate and Smith went in search of an eye-catching finish to mask his dogged display.

But again it was the champion’s haymakers that were catching the eye and even down the stretch, despite tiring, there was enough room to argue that Smith had done enough not to lose even one three-minute exchange.

Unfortunately, however, referee Green had other ideas – taking not only Smith’s belt but his world title ambitions too.

Captain Hook wrote:Macklin v a rejuvenated Smith might be interesting.....

Depends how pally they are. Smith needs work, McGirt doesn't seem to have done too much for him.

Autobarn wrote:Think there's a lot out there for Barker. Especially the Commonwealth eligible fighters from Ireland, Oz and Canada.

Gray-Fox wrote:McGirt is overrated YES, but he did help Tarver beat Jones twice. I think it's all about the fighter's hunger, and "Smigga" is just one of those guys that thinks he is meant to win a title.

I remember when an amateur fighter sparred Smigga a few years ago at Hatton's gym when he was a no fight novice (and Paul was a professional) and did a number on him...I was there and I saw it. I knew then Smigga was average.