BoxRec

What happened to Kris Smith - was going well and seemed to disappear.

Announcer is fat shaming poor old Kris pretty hard there. By todays standards he's just a little chunky.

I watched Kris Smith fight at the old Manor Place Baths in Walworth back in the late 1970s (topped by Alan Minter's brother, Mick). He was slung out for repeated butting against the talented but reluctant Ishaq Hussein of Reading, a man once seen as Britain's answer to Muhammad Ali. Hussein never reproduced his gym form in the ring and he kept holding against Smith, who retaliated by bringing the head up dangerously. It was nasty stuff. Smith tried the same trick against Malpass and quickly found himself on the canvas from a vicious right hand, which I enjoyed. Malpass looked a great prospect but Mickey Duff wanted more control of his career than George Biddles, who managed the fighter, was prepared to allow so Duff froze them out. Neil deserved better. He later scored a smashing knockout of America's useful Bruce Grandham at the famous old Stadium in Liverpool, sending Grandham clean through the ropes.
As for Smith, he scored a few reasonable wins at the start of his career but the crushing defeat to Malpass knocked the stuffing out of him and he wound up losing his last four in a domestic heavyweight era that can only be regarded as dreary. Frank Bruno was eventually the saviour.

Thanks for the fantastic reply....Ishaq Hussein had a decent amateur career (fighting out of Reading I believe) under the name Leroy Timothy. He later had a spell under the fledgling allegedly unlicensed circuit under the name Tshaka, defeating the mighty Cliff Fields who had turned his back on the licensed game after repeated stoppages on cuts......Malpas had a win and a draw with the divisive Paul Sykes - again headbutting led to the initial defeat for Sykes in that one.....Old Kris Smith looks like he wasnt shy in coming forwards.. He looks a character. Thanks again for your reply - much appreciated.

I was probably a bit harsh on Smith, who did win his first nine fights. I looked in a few back issues of BN and Smith turned pro with no amateur experience so he deserves credit for his winning streak. I seem to remember that he played water polo prior to going pro and played it to a good standard. Anyway, at 9-0, Smith lost on cuts to Leeds man John Depledge in three rounds in a fight that was still up for grabs but then looked lucky to get the decision over Brighton southpaw Tommy Kiely in an eight-rounder. Kiely, a stablemate of Alan Minter's, moved around and poked out the jab, with Smith lumbering forward but rarely getting through.
Nevertheless, a win's a win and Smith was lined up to challenge Denton Ruddock for the Southern Area heavyweight title but needed to get past Hendon's seasoned Tony Moore in an eight-rounder. He bulled forward and won the first four rounds but faded and it was Moore who controlled the second half of the fight, although he did a lot of slapping. It was close but Moore got the nod from referee Mike Jacobs, leaving Smith with few options. A fight later he walked on to a brutal right hand from Neil Malpass at the Albert Hall and was stopped in the opening round and next came defeats to Reading's Ishaq Hussein and Midlander Brian Huckfield, after which Smith dropped off the radar with a record of 10-5 (3).
Hussein, as you say, boxed under his real name of Leroy Timothy before converting to Islam like Muhammad Ali. He turned pro at 18 and had a mixed start, losing two of his first three fights, but then avenged those defeats as he strung together a winning run of 11 and Boxing News put him on the front cover of their first issue of 1977 with the headline: Ishaq aims to be champ at 20. Hussein had a manager in Bev Walker who did plenty of talking and Walker reckoned Hussein could win the British heavyweight title before the age of 21. Hussein was still 20 when he challenged Camberwell's Ruddock for the Southern Area title in April 1977, a fight he clearly needed to win, but it was Ruddock who bossed the fight and took the decision as Hussein stood off and admired what little work he did. Boxing News labelled Hussein "woefully hesitant". Hussein looked brilliant in the gym, away from any pressure, but the real thing proved too much and the man's career lingered on for years with very little success.