By Tom Gray at Ringside: Undefeated Stephen “Swifty” Smith of Liverpool won a hard fought and controversial split decision over Greenock’s John Simpson to lift the Commonwealth featherweight championship over a disapproving Scottish crowd at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.
Scores were 115-113, 116-111 for Smith and 115-112 for Simpson. This reporter also scored the bout 116-113 for Simpson.
Despite having only 10 fights Smith showed no sign of being overawed and dug deep throughout the 12 round contest. Both men appeared equal in terms of speed, power and talent but for me it was Simpson’s championship experience that made the difference in the last third of the fight.
From the beginning both men traded rounds and punches, their efforts frequently cancelling the other out as they fell into clinches which seemed to suit Smith. The challenger was cut by an unintentional clash of heads in the second round and his calm response was matched only by Mick Williamson’s excellent work in the corner to quell the damage.
Going into the tenth the fight was in the balance but for me Simpson swept all of the next three rounds. He was countering Smith with power shots and roughing up the brave challenger in close. The champion landed the best punch of the fight in the eleventh round and then raked his man with two right uppercuts, this particular shot proved to be an excellent weapon throughout.
The final round was all Simpson, he appeared to have the required versatility and Smith was becoming more and more ineffective. It wasn’t daylight robbery and Smith fought his heart out but the Scot deserves a rematch as soon as Smith sorts out business with British champion, Martin Lindsay, which is going to be anything but easy.
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Amazing Alex Arthur dominated London’s Peter McDonagh in an eight round contest. The referee scored the fight 79-74. This reporter made Arthur the winner by a shutout.
Arthur was simply too talented for McDonagh, who did well to last the distance. Brisk body work was mixed in with championship calibre combinations as the former British, Commonwealth and European title holder had his way.
Alex lost his previous contest to Nigel Wright and may now look for a rematch after restoring some confidence.
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Paul Appleby produced a superb performance to earn a second round knockout of Bulgaria’s Yordan Vasilev.
Vasilev brought a funky hairstyle, some showboating and not much else as Appleby tortured his opponent with whipping left hooks to the body. This particular punch was responsible for two knockdowns in the very first round.
Appleby closed the show at 0:59 of the second round as he batted Vasilev around the ring at will, bringing about the referees intervention.
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Stephen Ormond who hails from Dublin but makes his home in New York City displayed an effective arsenal against an over matched, Johnny Greaves. The four rounder was scored a shut out by the referee.
Ormond was very aggressive but he could afford to be against an opponent who had two wins in fifty four fights. Greaves was content to make faces and be a target for his undefeated opponent. It’s early days for Ormond but he showed some real promise with his ferocious quick silver style.
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Undefeated Liam Smith from Liverpool looked devastated when his fight with Terry Carruthers was declared a draw.
This reporter is not a fan of the four round route because I don’t think there’s enough time to settle anything but at this early level you have to show clear superiority. For what it’s worth I gave the fight, which was a good one, to Smith by one point and if anything this experience will serve as a learning curve.
September 4, 2010
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