Paul Smith lines up Liverpool for world title shot

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/boxer-paul-smith-lines-up-6848407

By Phil Kirkbride

Paul Smith says talks are under way over a fight with world super-middleweight champion Arthur Abraham.

Plans are in place for the British title holder to land a shot at the WBO king in September – and Liverpool is being discussed as a possible venue.

Abraham won back the world title from Robert Stieglitz at the beginning of the month and is scheduled to make a voluntary defence in May.

Smith, currently third in the WBO rankings, hopes to be made mandatory challenger soon and take on the Armenian-born fighter in the autumn.

The ‘Real Gone Kid’ was forced off Saturday night’s show at the ECHO Arena after being hospitalised with infected olecranon bursitis – a nasty elbow problem – but wants to be back in the ring on April 19 in Manchester.

Smith, who still retains hopes of winning his British title outright, is willing to travel to Germany to face the popular Abraham and is keen to build his profile out there.

But ‘Smigga’ says a clash in Liverpool is being talked about.

“Eddie Hearn is talking with Abraham’s promoters Sauerland all the time,” said Smith.

“We have laid a plan out and it involves me fighting in Germany, maybe twice, and going out there to fight Abraham. But I’m going to fight him as mandatory challenger.

“In this month’s WBO rankings James DeGale and Julio Cesar Chavez Junior will be moved out because they are going for the WBC title. And once they are out of the rankings I will be number one.

“We have applied to the WBO to be mandatory challenger and the number one contender.

“Abraham is going to have a quick defence against an Italian in May in Germany and then he is due a fight in September against his mandatory. Hopefully that will be against me.

“If I’m made mandatory challenger then why not have a warm-up fight on a Sauerland bill to sell myself to the German public? At the end of the day, I’m not Carl Froch, they’re not going to know who I am.

“So if I go over there and sell myself to the German public, I’ll go back in September as mandatory challenger.”

Sauerland also look after WBO world cruiserweight champ Marco Huck and Liverpool’s giant heavyweight David Price.

Wavertree’s Tony Bellew is eyeing a crack at Huck and the promoters have promised a homecoming for Price later this year.

Smith says he would relish his world title shot on home soil as part of a mega bill in the city.

“Sauerland want me number one because they could make the fight happen in Liverpool if they want,” said Smith.

“That’s why they are talking about Tony Bellew and Marco Huck. Imagine that big bill, me against Abraham, Bellew against Huck and Pricey on the undercard. It would be unbelievable. So it’s looking promising.”

Smith has fancied a shot at Abraham for some time and was delighted to see him dethrone Stieglitz.

“I’ll get a good payday and I’ve got a fantastic chance of beating Arthur Abraham,” he declared.

“I don’t care what anybody says, I’ve watched his last three fights and I’ve got a great chance of beating him.

“I wanted him to beat Robert Stieglitz because I knew it would an easier fight to make with Abraham. And me becoming mandatory stops Stieglitz becoming mandatory and stops a fourth fight between them.

“I’ve been in the WBO top 10 for five years so have earned my stripes, paid my dues and can hopefully now get a fight.”

Smith’s plans place an all-city clash with Rocky Fielding in major doubt.

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Not sure why Smith thinks he's entitled to a World Title shot. He's only in the WBO top ten because of his former promoters aaffialation with them.

“I’ve been in the WBO top 10 for five years so have earned my stripes, paid my dues....."

In his last 7 fights, the only two times he stepped up he was schooled by DeGale and spanked out by Groves.

His last five wins are Matolcsi (exactly?!), Samuels, Tolan, Dodson and Ambler and this entitles him to a title shot? No WBO Intercontwhatever title fight, no Eurpean level fight. Nothing. Can't see where he gets his sense of entitlement from.

Hope this all falls through and he has to defend his British title against Rocky.

Didn't you say your cousin was Rocky Fielding? Hardly going to be impartial against the man who gave him a slating on Sky Sports for not making weight Rocky Fielding should have his mandatory position taken away after that fiasco last week as far as I'm concerned, why should he keep that position after failing to make weight? Same goes for any other fighter.

Abraham is fighting someone else so he will have to wait, but what ever way you look at it he is top 5 with the WBO, I believe he'll be mandatory after this Abraham fight as well.

Not sure how BBBoC can strip Rocky of manditory status when it was a Commonwealth title fight? Its been confirmed that purse bids must be submitted by 7th April with the fight to happen by the end of June. And who else are they going to install? His brother?
 
Paul will need to sort it out fast.
 
Am alot more impartial then Paul was on Saturday. It was like he was over compensating and thinking excuse after excuse not to fight him. Paul's comment that 'he would have Adamu out of there in 2 rounds' was laughable. Especially as it took Groves 6th rounds after delivering a hell of a lot of punishment.
 
So Hampo do you agree that he derserves a World Title shot?

Paul smith isn't even the best Super middleweight in Liverpool let alone worthy of a world title.

If he has his ranking and gets awarded mandatory then I have no problems with it personally, have been a lot worse world title challengers in the past and there will be in the future, so why shouldn't he get his chance?
 
I personally don't feel Fielding should be rewarded for missing the weight so badly, whether Eddie told him to or not, coming in at as close to the light heavyweight limit as he did is unprofessional and the board are basically saying "you missed weight, nearly came above the light heavyweight limit, but don't worry here's a British title shot" to me that sends out the wrong message.

Paul Smith moved up to 3rd in the WBO rankings without even having a fight.....

Thats up there with the dead guy who increased his standings with the WBO....then again, the dead guy would probably put up a better fight against Abraham than Smith will.

hampo171 wrote:If he has his ranking and gets awarded mandatory then I have no problems with it personally, have been a lot worse world title challengers in the past and there will be in the future, so why shouldn't he get his chance?
 
I personally don't feel Fielding should be rewarded for missing the weight so badly, whether Eddie told him to or not, coming in at as close to the light heavyweight limit as he did is unprofessional and the board are basically saying "you missed weight, nearly came above the light heavyweight limit, but don't worry here's a British title shot" to me that sends out the wrong message.

But how did he get his ranking? Cant see beating Tolan, Dodson and then Jamie Ambler (10-53-2) rocketting you up the rankings can you? As I said, its undeserving.

BBBoC can't take his away manditory status for not making weight in a Commonwealth title fight. Plus also its a fight they everyone in Liverpool wants to see (maybe apart from the Smith family)

Not a fan of Smith (that could just be because my Mrs seems to think he's a bit of a dish, mind you) and agree that he's always had misplaced idea of how big a name he is, which shone through again when he went off the rails about Fielding the other night (albeit some of his points were fair enough, he just went too far in expressing them).

That said, he's just another boxer trying to make some good money from the sport while he can, so if the chance of a WBO fight presents itself, then fair enough and good luck to him. I accept that a lot of the time these rankings by the sanctioning bodies can be a bit comical, but Smith isn't responsible for that and any fighter in his position would be looking to take advantage just as he is.

I have no issue with mandatory defences and feel that they shouldn't be as easy to swerve (or just completely ignore) as they are these days. As Hampo says above, there's been plenty worse mandatory defences than Paul Smith in the past, and there will be again.

88Chris05 wrote:Not a fan of Smith (that could just be because my Mrs seems to think he's a bit of a dish, mind you) and agree that he's always had misplaced idea of how big a name he is, which shone through again when he went off the rails about Fielding the other night (albeit some of his points were fair enough, he just went too far in expressing them).

That said, he's just another boxer trying to make some good money from the sport while he can, so if the chance of a WBO fight presents itself, then fair enough and good luck to him. I accept that a lot of the time these rankings by the sanctioning bodies can be a bit comical, but Smith isn't responsible for that and any fighter in his position would be looking to take advantage just as he is.

I have no issue with mandatory defences and feel that they shouldn't be as easy to swerve (or just completely ignore) as they are these days. As Hampo says above, there's been plenty worse mandatory defences than Paul Smith in the past, and there will be again.

Chris, most boxers fight for Intercontinental, Sliver, Bronze, European to improve there ranking within the governing body. Smith just appeared there (probably from a back hander from you know who).

I do agree with the point where boxers must maximise there income etc, as its a short, brutal sport etc. But the fact that he tried to best to discredit Rocky on Saturday says to me he doesn't want the fight. Sooner this world title nonsense is over and he's forced to face Rocky the better.

That's true, SOF, but then again most boxing fans treat those kind of 'titles' with disdain in any case! European and Silver belts seem to be more of a WBC kind of deal, anyway in terms of how they help advance someone's rank. The WBO certainly seems to be offering Smith the easiest, most straight-forward route to a title shot - he's a lucky boy that his former promoter has always been in close with the WBO, I agree there, but at the end of the day if that's the belt he's in line for, he doesn't have to do any more than their ranking system dictates, even if it is a bit of a flimsy system.

Thing is, even if Smith does get a WBO title shot in the meantime, the Fielding fight should still be there further down the line. Realistically, Smith would need Abraham to have an absolute 'mare to win the belt, and after that it'd be back down to domestic level for him in any case. And hey, who knows, if Smith beats Abraham (keep the laughter to a minimum, lads) then it might offer Fielding a fast-track to a world title shot, as Smigga isn't realistically going to be mixing it with the Wards, Groves (again) and Froches of this world even if he does get the strap.

I wouldn't worry too much, mate. I'm sure we'll get Smith-Fielding somewhere down the line.

Genuinely don’t care about whether Smith wins intercontinental or silver belts as they are meaningless. They are devices by which to buy rankings and nothing more, as Bob Mee correctly put it they reduce rankings down to Tesco Clubcards, the more belts you buy the better your ranking.

Can’t really begrudge Smith a shot, have no real disagreement with the idea he does not deserve it, but let’s be honest he ain’t exactly the first to get a title shot or ranking he does not deserve in this day and age. Unless Abraham regresses very badly, very quickly he is unlikely to triumph and so a domestic match up with Fielding seems the only place for him to go, and even if he does, as Chris has said he is not going anywhere near Ward or Froch so could see Rocky in a world title fight. If we are going to get wound up every time a fighter gets a ranking or shot he does not deserve there will be a good number of ruptured spleens round here.

"Ward is the champion. Everyone else contenders". Repeat the mantra dudes. Embrace logic.....

If Paul Smith wasnt connected to Fielding than I dont think anything he said would be deemed out of line. Fielding was a disgrace. Missed weight by 6lbs and didnt even try to shift it - just added on more. And then delivered a poor performance on top. Smith was right. The gist of what he said afterwards was if its a choice between Abraham or Fielding then he gets 5 times the money for Abraham and a shot at a title which is a no brainer for him.

I wouldnt say winning every round plus a knockdown was a poor performance.

Poor fight agreed.

To be fair SoF, Adamu had no intention of trying to win the fight after the first round and wanted to just survive. Sky need to stop hyping Fielding as "knock out" machine as well, that was dreadful on Saturday.

hazharrison wrote:"Ward is the champion. Everyone else contenders". Repeat the mantra dudes. Embrace logic.....

You could say the same about Michael Spinks when Tyson was champion...........I don't embrace that logic.......

WBO is regarded as bonafide now.... so unfortunately Smith If he wins will become a world champion............Even though Groves and Degale outclassed him..

The times we live in........

Funny though to see the guys moaning about Khan getting a shot...Not minding If Smith gets one....

Funny but not surprising............

By the way any news on press passes yet for the Groves-Froch fight ?

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

hazharrison wrote:"Ward is the champion. Everyone else contenders". Repeat the mantra dudes. Embrace logic.....

You could say the same about Michael Spinks when Tyson was champion...........I don't embrace that logic.......

WBO is regarded as bonafide now.... so unfortunately Smith If he wins will become a world champion............Even though Groves and Degale outclassed him..

The times we live in........

Funny though to see the guys moaning about Khan getting a shot...Not minding If Smith gets one....

Funny but not surprising............

By the way any news on press passes yet for the Groves-Froch fight ?

Spinks was the true champion, however, Tyson was the best heavyweight in the world (we're heading towards a similar scenario at middleweight with GGG and Martinez).

If Smith wins a WBO belt he may not even crack the top ten. Another alphabet titlist in a sea of them.

Anyone who doesn't believe Ward is THE champion at 168 needs to come back into the light (not least because he's already whipped all of the other titlists).

Spinks for me wasn't the true champion............

1. Because Larry bottled Page and gave up the WBC to fight stiffs for the IBF..

2. Spinks wouldn't fight Tyson in 87.........Gave up his belt........Might as well still have Tunney as Heavyweight champion.

No one is suggesting that Ward isn't the best.........

You think GGG is a contender ?? Or a champion ??

hampo171 wrote:To be fair SoF, Adamu had no intention of trying to win the fight after the first round and wanted to just survive. Sky need to stop hyping Fielding as "knock out" machine as well, that was dreadful on Saturday.

Exactly, so the poor spectacle it was wasn't all Rocky's fault.

He was crap on Saturday Soldier..........Looked fleshy too.......

Tell your Cousin to knuckle down and start being professional Mate..

He hasn't got Kirkland Laing's talent to take the P**s out of the sport..and excel !!

Takes two to tango Truss.

I agree he looked sluggish on Sat, but I can tell you he's hardly ever out of the gym. He's not the first fighter to miss weight and he certainly wont be the last.

Am sure it wont happen again

Takes two to Tango........But it only takes one to look good........

Nothing remotely World class about this guy............A bigger version of Andy Lee.......

If you can't get motivated with TV cameras and a sizeable audience at home and "Home fans" in the arena watching..

Then it doesn't bode well my friend..

I'd love him to wipe a Smith or two out........It would look silly having five brothers at the top of Brit boxing.......

But I can't see it.............He has a nice house ...A nice car.. in a nice area (Saw him on Ringside!!)
and that's great.........Hope like many he looks after them because Boxing is hard enough !!

But is he too happy with what he has already ???????

Come on Truss, you've seen enough fights to know that if another fighter doesn't want to know and engage, its makes for a poor showning more often than not. Especially if said boxer is tough with great chin.

Am not sure what your mean by motivated? Because the fight was a stinker?

He's got world title asperations (which is almost nearly every boxer laces them up has in the first place). He's a level headed lad though who is taking it one fight at a time. He's a good all round fighter and I think he's improved alot since working with Oliver Harrison. Especially fighting on the back foot.

Once he steps up quality again, that is when you'll see the best of him.

Cutting the ring off, Going to the body to slow him down, Keeping a stiff jab in his face while throwing combinations off it, getting into shape........and maybe taking more risks against an old damp squib who was probably a stone lighter and couldn't hurt him anyway..

Some might say it's the least we could have expected........

Instead we got a cumbersome limited plodder who ran out of ideas after two rounds and bored us to sleep.......

No excuses..........If you weren't involved you'd be agreeing with me..

Enjoy him now...........Because the good times are over.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Spinks for me wasn't the true champion............

1. Because Larry bottled Page and gave up the WBC to fight stiffs for the IBF..

2. Spinks wouldn't fight Tyson in 87.........Gave up his belt........Might as well still have Tunney as Heavyweight champion.

No one is suggesting that Ward isn't the best.........

You think GGG is a contender ??  Or a champion ??

 
Martinez is the champ but I think GGG is the best at 160 (his title is meaningless, though, he's a contender until he fights Martinez).
 
Holmes was the champion (regardless of which alphabet he affiliated with) and Spinks beat him (officially anyway). While Spinks was the champion, he was a poor one (a similar scenario occurred when Foreman regained the crown years later -- he was the champion but wasn't the best heavyweight in the world).
 
The pair of them were allowed to duck out of facing their best contenders by the alphabets. Tyson at least got the opportunity to put the record straight (everyone already regarded him as the best big man in the world) while Foreman's crown eventually found it's way to Lewis by accident (via Briggs). Both turned out alright in the end (even if the latter was more luck than good governance).
 
Ward, though, hasn't just upset the applecart with a surprise win, he's proven himself king of 168 by beating everyone else with a claim. There's no logical reason for anyone else to call themselves a champion.

Ah its all so easy in hind side Truss. Your probably right and I think that will all be assessed. He's still on a learning curve.
 
I call it how I see it, I don't proclaim him to be the second coming nor I do I create articles bigging him up in any way shape or form. That fight was awful and wasn't his best performance. But this was a late replacement fighter and also in the fight before he iced a fella in a round that many said would beat him (he done 50 rounds of sparring with Froch and he couldnt put a dent in him etc).
 
Not sure how the good times are over, he hasn't even tasted defeat yet. The good times are on the horizon. And it starts by punching the smug look of Smiggers face :laugh:Which am sure you would enjoy.

If a guy is covering up on the ropes offering zilcho..........and is basically a stone lighter on the night...

Then why should a change of opponent be an excuse.........

He iced a useless muppet when he was hanging over the ropes with his back to him....In fairness he has a dig..

He's one paced...always looks fleshy and is predictable in his work..

Now in fairness maybe he's a late bloomer...But that was amateur night.

Can't see him beating either Smith and I want him to !!

Didn't Blackledge step in last minute as well?

Coming from someone who has supposed to have fought Truss, I find it insulting you calling fighters who aren't world beaters muppets and moron etc.. Why are they a muppet ? You epitomise a typical glory supporter, you once used to champion David Haye until he got beat, Floyd will be an overrated cherry picker no doubt once he gets chinned.

Cheers Rodders

Don't sit on the fence Rod......

hampo171 wrote:Didn't Blackledge step in last minute as well?

Aye, but he had full 12 week camp preparing for the Paul Smith fight which was scrapped because he ditched Warren. He was also sparring with Froch etc.

Blackledge also came with aspirations to actualy win the fight and attacked Rocky from the off. Much to his detriment.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:If a guy is covering up on the ropes offering zilcho..........and is basically a stone lighter on the night...

Then why should a change of opponent be an excuse.........

He iced a useless muppet when he was hanging over the ropes with his back to him....In fairness he has a dig..

He's one paced...always looks fleshy and is predictable in his work..

Now in fairness maybe he's a late bloomer...But that was amateur night.

Can't see him beating either Smith and I want him to !!

Because its a change of styles and brought completely different set skills to what Dodson brought?

Rocky is all wrong for Smith. Smith would be walking on to his punches all day long.

Fielding couldn't do a better job of fighting his corner If he was on here himself...

Excuses don't wash soldier...........(Curry was weight drained!!)

The guy should have been stopped...Paul smith was right..

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:If a guy is covering up on the ropes offering zilcho..........and is basically a stone lighter on the night...

Then why should a change of opponent be an excuse.........

He iced a useless muppet when he was hanging over the ropes with his back to him....In fairness he has a dig..

He's one paced...always looks fleshy and is predictable in his work..

Now in fairness maybe he's a late bloomer...But that was amateur night.

Can't see him beating either Smith and I want him to !!

Because its a change of styles and brought completely different set skills to what Dodson brought?

Rocky is all wrong for Smith. Smith would be walking on to his punches all day long.

I don't know Mate.......He's fleshy and his punches are sent by telegram.......Callum Smith sends his by e-mail....

Hope you're right Kid........I like him.......Nice down to earth kid...

He or (You!!) needs to knuckle down though.......Lose to a smith and there is nowhere to go with the Brit talent around at 168......and Kovo and Stevenson are a good level above at 175..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Fielding couldn't do a better job of fighting his corner If he was on here himself...

Excuses don't wash soldier...........(Curry was weight drained!!)

The guy should have been stopped...Paul smith was right..

Haha

Am not forcing my opinion on anyone or making excuses for him. He's a grown man and he knows what to do haha.

Considering it Groves 6 rounds to KO Adamu, I think its harsh to say he should have KO'd him (Although I did stick £20 on a 1st round KO )

But I did laugh when Smith said he would of had him out of there in two rounds. Especially after going the distance with Jamie Ambler in the fight previous.

Funny thing is the way Abraham looks these days..........I can see Fielding fighting Smith for the WBO If Fielding beats Callum........

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:If a guy is covering up on the ropes offering zilcho..........and is basically a stone lighter on the night...

Then why should a change of opponent be an excuse.........

He iced a useless muppet when he was hanging over the ropes with his back to him....In fairness he has a dig..

He's one paced...always looks fleshy and is predictable in his work..

Now in fairness maybe he's a late bloomer...But that was amateur night.

Can't see him beating either Smith and I want him to !!

Because its a change of styles and brought completely different set skills to what Dodson brought?

Rocky is all wrong for Smith. Smith would be walking on to his punches all day long.

I don't know Mate.......He's fleshy and his punches are sent by telegram.......Callum Smith sends his by e-mail....

Hope you're right Kid........I like him.......Nice down to earth kid...

He or (You!!) needs to knuckle down though.......Lose to a smith and there is nowhere to go with the Brit talent around at 168......and Kovo and Stevenson are a good level above at 175..

He was flashy here as he came 6 pound over on the scales, f**k knows what he was fight night. He hasn't had that in his previous fights.

The proof will be in the pudding (hopefully not literately).

Paul Smith wouldn't deserve the fight same as Khan wouldn't against Money, or as Reece didnt against Broner, or as Purdy against Alexander. If you were in the same position you would bite their hand off.

Would prefer to see Smith v Fielding against winner of Degale v Chavez. Winner takes winner of Abraham v Bika. But all of that is pie in the sky.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:
BBBoC can't take his away manditory status for not making weight in a Commonwealth title fight. Plus also its a fight they everyone in Liverpool wants to see (maybe apart from the Smith family)

Guess I was wrong

20 March 2014 | Area: Head Office
PAUL SMITH (Holder) v ROCKY FIELDING

Due to Rocky Fielding being unable to make Championship weight for the defence of the Commonwealth Boxing Council Super Middleweight Championship, the Board has decided to postpone the above Purse bid due on Wednesday, 9th April 2014.

The Stewards will consider the Championship at their next meeting.

We talked about this on the podcast and couldn't see any reason why they could remove his mandatory status. He's licensed by them so theoretically they could take away his licence at any point.

hampo171 wrote:We talked about this on the podcast and couldn't see any reason why they could remove his mandatory status. He's licensed by them so theoretically they could take away his licence at any point.

Bet you Smigger is having a good old whiff of his own farts the smug bastard.

Don't think Fast Car will be too pleased.