* VIEW pictures from the fight here
CHAMPION Paul Smith says he is done with taking on Liverpool fighters.
The 27-year-old defended his British super-middleweight title against city rival Tony Dodson at the Echo Arena on Friday night, winning a unanimous points decision over 12 blood-spattered rounds.
Ringside judges scored the fight 116-111, 115-112 and 117-112 in Smith’s favour though a bout built on total commitment from both fighters perhaps suggested a closer contest.
As blood oozed from two deep cuts Smith sustained through clashes of heads in the early rounds, the title holder was left with little option but to press for the knockout victory as the threat of a blood stoppage bared down on him.
And though ‘The Real Gone Kid’s’ tactics from the first bell suggested a desire for an early conclusion to the evening, the mask of claret he wore throughout the fight limited his scope to alter that approach if required.
But, in the same vein as his October win over Tony Quigley when claiming the British title, Smith grew as the fight progressed and summoned resolve in the championship rounds to tighten his grip on the Lonsdale Belt, leaving challenger Dodson with too much ground to make up as the bell went for the final flurry.
Smith said: “I think I am done with Liverpool fighters now. I have nothing left to prove with Scousers, all I’m doing is dividing my fan base and any future fan base.
"I don’t want Scousers shouting to have me killed because I’m fighting their mate, I want the whole city behind me to fill this Arena all the time.
"I need to have 8-10,000 people following me all the time properly and I think we can do massive things in Liverpool, as long as I’m not fighting another Scouser.
