Paul Smith Gets A Chance Of A Lifetime

By Connor Mack

Its official! Andre Ward will be making his long anticipated return to the ring against none other than, Liverpool’s own, Paul Smith Jr on June 20th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. As many know, Ward has been inactive due to his long running legal dispute with his former promoter, the late Dan Goosen, who sadly passed away in April 2014.

Many where speculative of whether Ward would ever return at all after a tweet he posted last year reading “If I never box another day in my life, I can't complain. God has been good to me. Boxing is what I do, it's not who I am”.

Thankfully the man still regarded by many as being one of the top 3 pound for pound boxers in the world, seems to have shaken off this temporary moment of doubt in his craft and has signed a deal with the new promotional company on the block, Roc Nation, owned by hip hop mogul and business man Jay Z.

The news comes after many fans called for Ward to be stripped of his WBA Super-Middleweight world championship title due to his lack of appearances in the last two years, indeed The Ring did decide to strip the Oakland man of his Ring Magazine Title, however it is questionable, whether this was the divine intervention the “Son Of God” needed to get him back on track and into the squared circle again.

Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic, Paul Smith had been keeping himself busy and in my opinion has been doing quite well for himself. He earned himself a World Title shot against the tough Arthur Abraham in which he gave a very good account of himself. The fight ended in controversy as Abraham retained his title, with the judges giving him the win by a ridiculously wide point’s margin (117-111, 117-111 and 119-109). I, like most other fans, had the fight finishing almost level with Abraham edging it slightly by a round or two. Maybe Smith didn’t do enough to win, but he sure as hell didn’t deserve to be disrespected like that by an incompetent panel of judges after putting on the performance of his career.

As their first fight ended with a dubious verdict, many felt that a re-match should be put in place. This became a reality in February 2015, and it’s fair to say that this time round, Abraham had Paul Smiths number. The fight ended in a clear decision win for the tough German.

It has been agreed that the fight will take place at the catch weight of 172 pounds. This says to me that Ward has maybe outgrown the super middle-weight division, and we could possibly end up seeing him stepping up at some stage to the light heavyweight division where some very interesting opponents could lie in wait. It is also worth noting that the fight will not be for Andre’s WBA World Title.

Many fans have been quick to slate Paul Smith for taking the fight against Ward which in my opinion is hard to understand. Sure, Andre Ward is on another level in terms of boxing skills, but that doesn’t make Paul exempt from being in the ring with him. At a time when certain boxers have received a lot of criticism for “ducking” or “avoiding” certain fighters because their “scared” or “they want to take the easy road”, we should applaud the courage that Smith has shown in accepting the fight because at the end of the day, that’s what a prize fighter is meant to do.

Smith hit back at his critics via twitter when he posted “Weird Country that I live in. Where a fighter is slagged off for taking a fight with the best. Jealous of people earning a pound note”. He also had this to say in a recent interview about his next bout “I cannot wait to get back in the ring and test myself against a class act like Andre Ward”.

Even though Paul is punching above his weight in terms of skill level, he does deserve to be in the ring with him, and the above two quotes prove it. Not only has Smith almost clinched a world title in losing a narrow decision to Abraham, but he is a proud man, who comes to fight, and will give it his all come June 20th.

http://www.v2boxing.co.uk/#!Smith-Gets-A-Chance-Of-A-Lifetime/c1xmj/554352d50cf2adc1ad01af2a

Connor is one of V2 Boxings newest writers, it's fantastic to have him onboard.

I applaud Smith for taking this fight...........

To be fair to 606v any negativity has been towards Ward on this matchup.....

Do agree with Smith that Brits do tend to have a downer on their fighters .....

I agree Truss, if anyone should be slated it's Ward as he could have chose a better opponent.
Hope Smith does himself proud and balls to the people slating him for this

I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

I'll make sure to tell him when he writes his article about Fielding, he must make him sound like Ali reincarnated

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

I'll make sure to tell him when he writes his article about Fielding, he must make him sound like Ali reincarnated

Nothing to do with Rocky Paul.

But if you or Connor can elborate on how Paul earned this fight or obtained his 'lofty' ranking with the WBO with the quality of opposition he faced before hand without picking up one of the fabled WBO Euro,Intercont tinkets etc...be my guess 

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

I'll make sure to tell him when he writes his article about Fielding, he must make him sound like Ali reincarnated

Nothing to do with Rocky Paul.

But if you can or Connor elborate on how Paul earned this fight or obtained his 'lofty' ranking with the WBO with the quality of opposition he faced before hand without picking up one of the fabled WBO Euro,Intercont etc...be my guess 

It's been mentioned many times on different sites SoF. These days as long as you win, you'll rise up the rankings. Nobody is saying he fought the best, but in a very poorly run sport he did it no different to many other fighters.

By comment was clearly a joke by the way, no need to be serious all the time.

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

I'll make sure to tell him when he writes his article about Fielding, he must make him sound like Ali reincarnated

Nothing to do with Rocky Paul.

But if you can or Connor elborate on how Paul earned this fight or obtained his 'lofty' ranking with the WBO with the quality of opposition he faced before hand without picking up one of the fabled WBO Euro,Intercont etc...be my guess 

It's been mentioned many times on different sites SoF. These days as long as you win, you'll rise up the rankings, not hard to understand. Nobody is saying he fought the best, but in a very poorly run sport he did it no different to many other fighters.

  .............if you say so.

More to do with Warren's sactionings fees before Paul ditched him.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

I'll make sure to tell him when he writes his article about Fielding, he must make him sound like Ali reincarnated

Nothing to do with Rocky Paul.

But if you can or Connor elborate on how Paul earned this fight or obtained his 'lofty' ranking with the WBO with the quality of opposition he faced before hand without picking up one of the fabled WBO Euro,Intercont etc...be my guess 

It's been mentioned many times on different sites SoF. These days as long as you win, you'll rise up the rankings, not hard to understand. Nobody is saying he fought the best, but in a very poorly run sport he did it no different to many other fighters.

  .............if you say so.

More to do with Warren's sactionings fees before Paul ditched him.

Will you cry like this should your favourite fighter get a world title shot under similar circumstances? Or will you just say it's part of the sport?

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

I'll make sure to tell him when he writes his article about Fielding, he must make him sound like Ali reincarnated

Nothing to do with Rocky Paul.

But if you can or Connor elborate on how Paul earned this fight or obtained his 'lofty' ranking with the WBO with the quality of opposition he faced before hand without picking up one of the fabled WBO Euro,Intercont etc...be my guess 

By comment was clearly a joke by the way, no need to be serious all the time.

Whose being serious

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

I'll make sure to tell him when he writes his article about Fielding, he must make him sound like Ali reincarnated

Nothing to do with Rocky Paul.

But if you can or Connor elborate on how Paul earned this fight or obtained his 'lofty' ranking with the WBO with the quality of opposition he faced before hand without picking up one of the fabled WBO Euro,Intercont etc...be my guess 

It's been mentioned many times on different sites SoF. These days as long as you win, you'll rise up the rankings, not hard to understand. Nobody is saying he fought the best, but in a very poorly run sport he did it no different to many other fighters.

  .............if you say so.

More to do with Warren's sactionings fees before Paul ditched him.

Will you cry like this should your favourite fighter get a world title shot under similar circumstances? Or will you just say it's part of the sport?

What are you going on about? Whose crying, merely making a point. Connor stating that Paul earned his title shot when he really didn't, that is all....

And I'm asking you if you will be as critical should Fielding "earn" his shot this way?

hampo171 wrote:And I'm asking you if you will be as critical should Fielding "earn" his shot this way?

You never, you said my favourite boxer.

Yes I would, it would pretty hard to defend his case.

Honestly, some of the posts I've seen on here about Fielding it wouldn't of surprised me. You even defended him over the missing weight issue, which was pretty much impossible to defend.

hampo171 wrote:Honestly, some of the posts I've seen on here about Fielding it wouldn't of surprised me. You even defended him over the missing weight issue, which was pretty much impossible to defend.

Thats your opinion isn't it.

This topic isn't about Rocky is about Paul. So not sure to as why he gets brought into it when I make a valid point about Paul not derserving his original shot.

Was just asking a question SoF, why not write a counter piece for the site about why you feel he didn't deserve his shot

hampo171 wrote:Honestly, some of the posts I've seen on here about Fielding it wouldn't of surprised me. You even defended him over the missing weight issue, which was pretty much impossible to defend.

Cant remember posting about that Paul. You might have to pull up some quotes.

Not sure he 'deserves to be in the ring with him'. No blame attached to smith though, he can just count himself very lucky to get two title fights and then this. Anybody outside of the smith family going to watch this?

Just gutted its not for a belt, as it ruins my consecutive losing title challenges debate from last weeks thread.

hampo171 wrote:Was just asking a question SoF, why not write a counter piece for the site about why you feel he didn't deserve his shot

Not bregruding him fighting Ward in a non-title catchweight. Just pointed out he didn't deserve his title shot against Abraham in the first place. No point going over old ground and I've said all i have had to say on the subject in numerous of posts.

No one earns a shot these days..............Loads of world titles about..........

If being squashed by Martinez means you get a shot at GGG...........Then why not chuck a world title shot Fielding's way.......

Remember Gary Lockett ??.............I felt embarrassed for him..

Gone beyond a joke now............

Happy for Smith to get a good pay day and a crack at Ward.

Smith will always try his best and I hope he makes a decent account of himself.

Not one of the more popular fighters probably because his ego and self belief are never far from the surface. The same attributes that have kept him plugging away no doubt. At world level he is a quantifiable threat that the promoters of the top fighters see as a stay busy fight type opponent.  Smith fulfills a role and not being too much of risk as an opponent is becoming his niche at the top level. At least he has thus far avoided getting his brains bashed in a la Brian Rose and others who have dared to thread in the same territory.

No problem with the fight from smiths perspective. He's getting paid well to fight the widely recognised best in his division. The timing being such that there is a question mark as to whether he is still as good as he was. Ward's comeback fight was always going to be against a lower risk opponent. It seems a no brainer for any lower ranking super middleweight to take this opportunity against the future hall of famer.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

I'll make sure to tell him when he writes his article about Fielding, he must make him sound like Ali reincarnated

Nothing to do with Rocky Paul.

But if you or Connor can elborate on how Paul earned this fight or obtained his 'lofty' ranking with the WBO with the quality of opposition he faced before hand without picking up one of the fabled WBO Euro,Intercont tinkets etc...be my guess 

First thanks for reading, any feedback is welcomed and appreciated

Now let me elaborate on what I meant by Paul “earned his shot” at Abraham.  Smith had a record of 35 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws before he took the first Abraham fight, it is true that he hasn’t faced the best opposition in the world and has come up short when he has made a step up (De Gale and Groves),  but at the end of the day, he’s winning. He’s keeping himself busy and he comes to fight and always gives it his all.

Like Hampo mentioned, boxing is an imperfect profession in which the steps to the top aren’t always as tightly regulated and clear cut as they should be. What I mean is, there’s not always a clearly defined path one must follow to get his shot at becoming world champ/becoming the best. If there were, we would have been seeing tonight’s Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight 6 years ago when they were both at their absolute peak.

So this at times, gives the world champ free reign (within reason obviously) to choose who they wish to put their world title on the line against. Now if Paul was a pussycat with a sh1t load of losses on his record, I’d understand where you were coming from. But he’s not, and in the first fight with Abraham he proved that he could at least compete at world level and give a good account of himself.

I understand what you’re saying, but it’s more of a problem with boxing as a whole than being specific to Paul Smiths career. The man’s just doing what he’s meant to do.

Welcome to the forum Connor

hampo171 wrote:Welcome to the forum Connor

Cheers mate, happy to be on board!

Smith was gifted a title shot against Abraham because they wanted a soft touch. No way did he earn it.

There are undoubtedly plenty of equally undeserving guys to get a title shot, but when you have been knocked out by the only two decent fighters you've fought, haven't won a euro or commonwealth belt, it really doesn't matter how many cans you've knocked over.

I've nothing against smith and it was a good performance against Abraham (even if he has seen better days).

As catchy says, he got the shot as he was seen as a soft touch... Exactly why he's getting ward too... Not because he deserved it. But hey, it's a hell if a tough way to make a living and you take the breaks when they come your way, so good luck to the guy... And he will need it against ward.

Conor_Mack wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

I'll make sure to tell him when he writes his article about Fielding, he must make him sound like Ali reincarnated

Nothing to do with Rocky Paul.

But if you or Connor can elborate on how Paul earned this fight or obtained his 'lofty' ranking with the WBO with the quality of opposition he faced before hand without picking up one of the fabled WBO Euro,Intercont tinkets etc...be my guess 

First thanks for reading, any feedback is welcomed and appreciated

Now let me elaborate on what I meant by Paul “earned his shot” at Abraham.  Smith had a record of 35 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws before he took the first Abraham fight, it is true that he hasn’t faced the best opposition in the world and has come up short when he has made a step up (De Gale and Groves),  but at the end of the day, he’s winning. He’s keeping himself busy and he comes to fight and always gives it his all.

Like Hampo mentioned, boxing is an imperfect profession in which the steps to the top aren’t always as tightly regulated and clear cut as they should be. What I mean is, there’s not always a clearly defined path one must follow to get his shot at becoming world champ/becoming the best. If there were, we would have been seeing tonight’s Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight 6 years ago when they were both at their absolute peak.

So this at times, gives the world champ free reign (within reason obviously) to choose who they wish to put their world title on the line against. Now if Paul was a pussycat with a sh1t load of losses on his record, I’d understand where you were coming from. But he’s not, and in the first fight with Abraham he proved that he could at least compete at world level and give a good account of himself.

I understand what you’re saying, but it’s more of a problem with boxing as a whole than being specific to Paul Smiths career. The man’s just doing what he’s meant to do.

Welcome Conor and thanks for an insightful rebuttal which is rare on these boards!

True he was 35-3, but IMO he's never beaten anyone close to Euro level. He was pretty unknown before the family became pro and now he's part of that commodity (Team Smith Bros etc) and it's worked in his favour. He's quite insightful in his punditry unless it involves a fellow gym member and the fact hes recognisable and his bizarre ranking got him his shot which being fair, he grabbed with both hands. He's making the most of what he's got and will now probably retire after a nice payday after fighting Ward. But did he deserve his chance by working his way up and by merit, for me........nope.

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

Conor_Mack wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:

hampo171 wrote:

Soldier_Of_Fortune wrote:I think Connor should re-edit the part where he said Paul 'earned' his title shot against Abraham. It should be 'gifted'.

I'll make sure to tell him when he writes his article about Fielding, he must make him sound like Ali reincarnated

Nothing to do with Rocky Paul.

But if you or Connor can elborate on how Paul earned this fight or obtained his 'lofty' ranking with the WBO with the quality of opposition he faced before hand without picking up one of the fabled WBO Euro,Intercont tinkets etc...be my guess 

First thanks for reading, any feedback is welcomed and appreciated

Now let me elaborate on what I meant by Paul “earned his shot” at Abraham.  Smith had a record of 35 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws before he took the first Abraham fight, it is true that he hasn’t faced the best opposition in the world and has come up short when he has made a step up (De Gale and Groves),  but at the end of the day, he’s winning. He’s keeping himself busy and he comes to fight and always gives it his all.

Like Hampo mentioned, boxing is an imperfect profession in which the steps to the top aren’t always as tightly regulated and clear cut as they should be. What I mean is, there’s not always a clearly defined path one must follow to get his shot at becoming world champ/becoming the best. If there were, we would have been seeing tonight’s Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight 6 years ago when they were both at their absolute peak.

So this at times, gives the world champ free reign (within reason obviously) to choose who they wish to put their world title on the line against. Now if Paul was a pussycat with a sh1t load of losses on his record, I’d understand where you were coming from. But he’s not, and in the first fight with Abraham he proved that he could at least compete at world level and give a good account of himself.

I understand what you’re saying, but it’s more of a problem with boxing as a whole than being specific to Paul Smiths career. The man’s just doing what he’s meant to do.

Welcome Conor and thanks for an insightful rebuttal which is rare on these boards!

True he was 35-3, but IMO he's never beaten anyone close to Euro level. He was pretty unknown before the family became pro and now he's part of that commodity (Team Smith Bros etc) and it's worked in his favour. He's quite insightful in his punditry unless it involves a fellow gym member and the fact hes recognisable and his bizarre ranking got him his shot which being fair, he grabbed with both hands. He's making the most of what he's got and will now probably retire after a nice payday after fighting Ward. But did he deserve his chance by working his way up and by merit, for me........nope.

SOF, Thanks for the welcome. No problem, I enjoy hearing other peoples opinions on matters regarding boxing.