AMID the rhetoric of the big fight build up, it was left to Frank Warren to offer up the most fitting of final words.
“When it all comes down to it, their fists will have to do the talking.”
After rounds of verbal sparring reached their peak earlier this week, Paul Smith and Tony Dodson gave little away at their head-to-head meeting before tomorrow’s British super-middleweight title fight at the Echo Arena.
And though the pair indulged in a heated exchange after posing for nose-to-nose photographs, to give a brief glimpse of what lies ahead tomorrow evening, it was an occasion where words were not wasted by either fighter.
Instead, promoter Warren was left to set the scene on the derby dust-up – and for another boxer to steal the show.
Light-heavyweight Tony Bellew challenges Ghana’s Atoli Moore for the vacant Commonwealth strap tomorrow night and has offered his opponent an uncomprimising lesson in his city’s history.
Warren added: “Both Smith and Dodson need no introduction for people in this part of the world. It promises to be a cracking, cracking fight and I think it is the sort of fight any boxing fan will enjoy and there is a lot at stake here. Not just the championship of Great Britain but a chance to fight for the European title and to move onto bigger and better things. We will also find out who is the top man in Liverpool. I think this is going to be explosive.”
Undefeated Bellew’s 12-round bout against 10-0 Moore provides chief support to the Smith-Dodson scrap for the Lonsdale belt, on a bill which promises to be the best in the city for at least a decade.
A third title fight, in the shape of Kell Brook’s WBO intercontinental welterweight match-up with Poland’s Krzysztof Bienias, adds further strength to the bill.
The undercard also features Paul Smith’s brothers Liam (4-0) and Stephen (9-0) as well as home fighter Joe Selkirk, but of the support, Bellew is creating the biggest buzz.
He said: “When I get in the ring with him I am going to smash him to pieces. He knows that, I know that. I don’t care where in the world he is from, I’m from Liverpool, one of the hardest places you can come from. My city has been built on fighting, from the Toxteth riots to the Dockers. I am going to send him back home a loser and he is going to get hurt. I’ll be amazed if he takes what I have got.”
For tickets call 0844 8000 400 or visit www.echoarena.com.Paul Smith (holder) v Tony Dodson for the British super-middleweight title; Tony Bellew v Atoli Moore for the Commonwealth light-heavyweight title; Krzystof Bienias (holder) v Kell Brook for the WBO Intercontinental welterweight title; Enzo Maccarinelli v Zoltan Czekus (cruiserweight contest); Stephen Smith v Jason Thomas (super-featherweight contest); Liam Smith v Billy Smith (welterweight contest); Joe Selkirk v Manoo Salari (light-middleweight contest); Tobias Webb v Lee Duncan (super-middleweight contest); John Thain v Kevin McCauley (welterweight contest); Thomas Costello v Lee Noble (light-middleweight contest). First bell 7.00pm.
