Liverpool duo maintain unbeaten records at the Bolton Arena

Dec 10 2007 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

PAUL SMITH kept his unbeaten record intact at the Bolton Arena before declaring he boxed ‘like a mug’.

Billed as the Liverpool punchers ‘home-coming’, his eight-round contest with tough Tanzanian Francis Cheka was Smith’s first fight on British soil since starring in US TV reality series The Contender earlier this year. However, he knows he will have to perform better than this if he is to go from contender to champion when he faces Steve Bendall for the English middleweight title at the Echo Arena on February 2.

“I made it tougher than it should have been,” admitted Smith, who had new trainer and former two weight world champion Buddy McGirt in his corner.

“Sometimes I don’t make it easy for myself and box like a mug, looking for the knockout. I showed glimpses of what I can do but then the red mist sets in and the old Paul Smith comes out and I want to knock everyone’s heads off.

“I wanted to put a show on but I’m better than that.”

His 79-74 victory was routine enough but Smith allowed Cheka to dominate at times and took some unnecessary punishment against the ropes in the second, fifth and seventh rounds.

With eight stoppages on his 13-4-1 slate, Cheka was surprisingly light-handed for a fighter who is used to trading up at super-middleweight.

Had the African possessed a bigger shot, Smith might have found himself in more trouble than he’d bargained for, but other than taking a solid right in the second round and a flurry on the ropes in the fifth, the 25-year-old came through relatively unscathed.

He did emerge with a cut around each eye though, the result of a couple of sloppy head clashes in the second and fourth rounds. But as Cheka seemed to tire in the latter stages, Smith began to find his range.

A choppy right followed by a clinical left counter saw Cheka take a step back in the fifth as he felt the Scouser’s power for the first time.

However, he proved he can box, spoil, take a shot and also likes to switch hit, making him a tricky opponent.

Smith’s main flaw was allowing Cheka to back him up instead of dictating at his own pace which is when he is at his best.

Still, he did enough for referee Mickey Vann to raise his arm at the end but a disconsolate shake of his head on the final bell revealed his disappointment.

Light-heavyweight prospect Tony Bellew extended his unbeaten stoppage record with a third knockout in as many bouts. Bellew’s third round destruction of Wayne Brooks takes him to 3-0.