Via Barry Holbrook: Middleweight contender Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith (32-3-1, 19 KOs) held his ground to fight for the world title with a fourth-round knockout victory over the second-place boxer Hassan Mwakinyo (20-3, 14 KOs) on Saturday Night at Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.
34-year-old ‘Beefy’ Smith, who ranked 2nd in WBO, 3rd in WBC & 4th in WBA with 154th, beat 27-year-old Mwakinyo twice in the fourth round.
A half earlier, Hassan had injured his ankle. It’s not clear if that counts towards the final outcome of the fight.
Given that this was a paper mismatch in Smith’s favor, it is likely that Hassan was stopped. The match was stopped at 1:46 of the fourth inning.
For Liam Smith, this is his third straight win since losing to Magomed Kurbanov in 2021.
Former WBO 154-lb champion Smith lost his belt in 2016 in a 9th-round knockout loss to Canelo Alvarez.
Since then, Smith has attempted to regain the belt but was defeated by Jaime Munguia in 2018 in an unsuccessful attempt to regain his former WBO 154 belt.
At this point, the best Smith can hope for is a good payday that comes with a title ahead of undisputed 154-lb champion Jermell Charlo, as he’s no match for the champ. talent.
However, even if Smith continues to win for the foreseeable future, he won’t have a single title against Charlo for at least two years, maybe three.
It’s been a long time for Smith to wait, which is why he may choose to move up to 160 to get a quick shot at the title against newly crowned WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly.
That boxer was dodged by many in the 160 lb division, so there’s a chance Liam could win a title against him if his promoter pulls the strings.
Unfortunately, that bout will be the same as Charlo’s match against Smith, meaning he’ll have little or no chance of beating dangerous puncher Janibek. But on the bright side, at least Smith will get a nice payday and will fight for a title.
In the underweight event, WBO heavyweight doubles champion Natasha Jonas (12-2-1, 8 KOs) defeated WBC champion Patricia Berghult (15-1, 3 KOs) by a unanimous 10th round. . The scores are 99-91, 100-90 and 100-90.
Light heavyweight Dan Azeez (17-0, 11 KOs) beat the always tough Shakan Pitters (17-2, 6 KOs) by unanimous decision 12 rounds to claim the British belt. The judges’ scores were 117-112, 115-113 and 117-111.
Heavyweight prospect Frazer Clarke (3-0.3 KOs) decimated replacement Pencho Tsvetkov (7-1.5 KOs) with a quick first-round knockout. Clarke dropped Tsvetkov twice in the inning before the contest was paused.
Welterweight Adam Azim (6-0.5 KOs0 beat Michael Cabral (5-5-1, KOs) by first-round knockout.
