Lee Selby claims British and Commonwealth featherweight titles

Lee Selby crushes Swifty Smith

Lee Selby is the new British and Commonwealth featherweight champion after impressively knocking out former champion Stephen Smith at Liverpool Olympia on Saturday night.

Having triumphed in two hard fought wars with the tough John Simpson, this was seen in some quarters as a straightforward defence for Smith but Selby had obviously trained diligently and produced the best performance of his young career.

Selby dominated when able to keep the fight at long range, measuring Smith with his left hand and firing in his right. It was a tactic which would work throughout the fight and one which Smith never found an answer too. The 24 year old from Barry never allowed ‘Swifty’ to set himself and there were times when it seemed like he couldn’t miss with his right hand and left hook. Smith was obviously out of sorts but gritted his teeth and gamely tried to turn the tide back in his favour. It wasn’t pretty but spurred on by his raucous hometown support he managed to bull his way inside and club away, the cleaner shots were constantly coming from Selby though and he seemed remarkably relaxed for somebody who had never gone beyond six rounds.

The danger signs really began to flash in the fifth. As Smith became increasingly ragged in his attempts to get close to the challenger, Selby began to land his uppercut regularly. Smith initially took them well but the writing was on the wall and the end came in the eighth as Selby unleashed another left hook cum uppercut which landed solidly on Smiths jaw. The scouser was out before he hit the canvas and referee Victor Laughlin wisely dispensed with the count at 2.04 of the round. Selby is now the British and Commonwealth featherweight champion and takes his record to 11-1.

There was better luck for the other two boxing Smith brothers. Elder brother Paul continued his comeback from his defeat to James DeGale with a comprehensive first round stoppage of veteran Paul Samuels. A sharp left hook, right hook, left hook combination put Samuels down for an eight count and Smith was in no mood to let his man off the hook . His follow up barrage bought an end to matters at 2.20 of the round. ‘The Real Gone Kid’ now moves on to a big clash with George Groves.

Liam Smith continued his rise up the rankings with an impressive third round stoppage of Barrie Jones. Smith, hands held high and constantly moving forward, steadily hunted down the Welshman. Jones enjoyed some early success with his southpaw jab and managed to make Smith look a touch ragged when he was able to keep him at range but there always seemed an inevitability about matters. ‘Beefy’ steadily wore down his more experienced opponent and his left to the body seemed to be reaping dividends. So it proved. A solid left to the body hurt Jones in the third and Smiths follow up barrage pushed him into the ropes. As Jones turned on ropes, a hard left hook to the body put him down and he took the count on one knee. Smith moves to 7-0-1. Weights were Smith, 10st 13lbs 1 oz and Jones 10st 13lbs 4oz.

Super middleweight Rocky Fielding continued to improve as he scored a routine 60-54 victory over Paul Morby. Fielding showed good footwork and the signs of what could become a dominant jab as he had his own way throughout the fight.

Paul Butler comprehensively outpointed centurion Delroy Spencer over six one sided rounds. The former ABA flyweight champion impressively worked to the body and switched his angle of attack throughout. Novice fighters around the lower weight classes are expected to deal with Spencer but the manner in which ‘The Baby Faced Assassin’ dealt with him suggests he could be set for a successful career. Butler moves to 4-0.

Light welterweight Lewis Rees stopped Damien Turner in the fourth of 6 scheduled two minute rounds. The Welshman worked at a high tempo and showed an impressive body attack as he virtually had his own way. A sustained attack bought a stoppage from referee John Latham at 1.08 of the round. Rees moves to 2-0.

Source:www.livefight.com/news.php

Lee Selby stops Stephen Smith to claim titles

Welsh boxer Lee Selby knocked out formerly unbeaten Stephen Smith to take the British and Commonwealth featherweight titles in Liverpool.

Barry-born Selby, 24, was unfancied against the champion on his home turf but dominated the middle of the ring.

The end of Saturday's fight at the Olympia came in the eighth round.

Selby caught Smith, 26, with a left-handed counter to drop him unconscious to the canvas, although he later recovered to walk out of the ring.

It was the Welsh underdog's third career knock-out and takes his record to 11-1.

On the undercard there were mixed fortunes for Welsh boxers Lewis Rees and Paul Samuels.

Rees was victorious in his second professional fight, the Tonypandy light-welterweight stopping Damien Turner in the final round of their four-rounder.

But Newport's Samuels suffered a first-round humbling by former British super-middleweight champion Paul Smith.

Source:news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/14964168.stm