BoxRec

I see that Smith was beatne by Bendall on point- did anyone see it? Sounds like a good fight.

Blimey, I've never rated Smith but I thought he would outwork Bendall at least.

I said before that I wasn't expecting Smigga to reach World class, but I was expecting him to win this fight. I really wish I was able to see what happened. He seemed in good shape mentally and physically.

Just the garbage I expected.

Shows perhaps how good Barker is, as much as how good Smith isn't.

Barker did one or two things wrong v Bendall - allowed his left hand to get tied up, stopping him throwing left hooks - but he was busing up Bendall with every carefully selected shot. With ease.

I've not been overly impressed with Smith in a while know, just seemed a bit one paced.I thought he would win tonight though.

I was looking forward to this to compare Smith with Barker but Smith seems very overrated - he struggled against Renda, and you now have to fancy Barker to whoop this guy.

Shocked at this - man I'm glad I didnt bet large on the under after all!! I thought Smigga would do a number on Bendall - but makes Barker look good now. Seriously though - Smigga really should have beaten Bendall - all top british fighters have. May have an off night - rematch perhaps?

ITV only showed the last 5 seconds or so of this- the score suggests it could have gone either way.

he would outwork Bendall at least

He hasn't tried to outwork any fighter since Banks on the contender, he gets negative now and Is more on the back foot covering up.

Was better when he was more aggressive.

Can't believe this result. Fully expected Smigga to win comfortably.

I've been expecting this to happen for a while now, his last few fights have been hard work. Is it just me or does anyone else think he's gone backwards since joining up with Buddy?

Anyway hopefully Smigga gets back in the gym ASAP and comes back well from this defeat.

From the brief clip, Smith turned and walked away as if he knew was beaten and the post-fight interview wreaked of a man whose heart is not in Boxing. No doubt that will be the end of the McGirt alliance anyway. A new trainer and a kick up the arse may be needed.

The result is even more surprising given that Steve weighed in 1.5 pounds over, and had to work hard and swiftly to make the weight.
He did it - obviously! - but he looked knackered afterwards.
Maybe it was complacency on Paul's part. He did the weight comfortable, and seemed well chilled.
That's boxing - I'm prepared to give Smigga the benefit of the doubt.
I'll reserve judgement until after his next fight.

On a side note, cracking body shot Curtis Woodhouse landed to get his KO victory.

Was not a gr8 performance but still think Smigga won well. :(

Arnie wrote:Was not a gr8 performance but still think Smigga won well. :(

nah - I thought he would get the verdict because he was "meant to win" but dont think he deserved to.

what about the 1 and possibly 2 knockdowns that wernt counted?

stujones wrote:On a side note, cracking body shot Curtis Woodhouse landed to get his KO victory.

Yeh but I think its a bit much for someone who has yet to fight someone with a positive record saying in 12 months I'll fight anyone in the devision in the country!

Barker is the real deal!!!

Warren's stable is getting gets more beaten by the week.

Barker is a class act though, he is a very technical fighter and did a job on Bendall.

Looks like it's back to the drawing board for Smigga.

I know he's switch to Buddy and i believe he has got kids / baby or something now too ?

Perhaps he needs to go back to what was working for him earlier on in his career as Buddy should have got him through this fight.

Never rated Smith and always liked Barker since I started watching him. Sharp, well schooled fighter.

Middleweight is really picking up with Pavlik and Abraham at the top, Sturm and some quality Euro level guys just beneath (Sylvester, Asikainen, Castillejo if he's still fighting), tough fringe level names (Randy Griffin, Marquez), major prospects like Golovkin and Pirog moving steadily.

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

Doesn't look too promising for Paul Smith, though.

At least this makes Darren Barker look good, but I always fancied Barker against Smith anyways.

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 agree Chambers. Boxing fans are a fickle lot.

I felt genuinely sorry for Smig when they interviewed him at the end, as he looked gutted. Hopefully he will bounce back.

Steve Bendall (Post Fight Interview)

Buddy McGirt (Post Fight Interview)

Hopefully there will be a rematch and Smigga can show us what he's really capable of.