Callum Smith TKOs Cesar Hernan Reynoso

By Boxing News - 05/29/2016 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: In easily one of the worst performances I’ve seen from #1 WBC super middleweight contender Callum Smith (20-0, 15 kOs), he had to struggle hard to defeat 29-year-old Argentinian journeyman Cesar Hernan Reynoso (14-8-3, 7 KOs) by a 6th round TKO on Sunday night at the Goodison Park Stadium in Liverpool, UK.

The fight was stopped prematurely by referee Steve Gray in the 6th with Smith stalking Reynoso and trying – but failing – to finish him off. It was a crazy stoppage by Gray because Reynoso wasn’t hurt and was still firing back. Whatever the case, the official time of the plug being pulled on the fight was 2:02.

Smith knocked Reynoso down three times in the contest in dropping him with left hands in round one, four and five. The first knockdown of the fight came from a short left hook to the head of Reynoso in round one. Smith dropped Reynoso with lefts to the body in round four and five.

Smith, 26, was missing with his punches constantly, and getting nailed by Reynoso big time. This was an actual fight, not a mismatch and that’s the sad part. Smith was struggling against a journeyman level fighter in getting tagged repeatedly by him. Instead of fighting with some intelligence, Smith was stalking Reynoso around the ring, throwing wild shots and missing like he was punching with his eyes closed. If Smith had stopped loading up on every shot he threw, it would have been easier fight for him. But he looked like he was trying to impress the huge crowd at Goodison Partk, and it ended up working against him.

By the 5th round, Smith was bleeding from the nose from some hurtful shots that Reynosa had nailed him with. Smith looked flustered, as he couldn’t take Reynoso out and he kept getting tagged by him. It must have been doubly frustrating for Smith knowing that he was struggling against a 2nd tier fodder opponent rather than a top 15 contender.

All in all, it was a horrible performance by Smith. After seeing how he struggled to beat Reynoso and had the referee stop the contest while it was being fought, I had to say that Smith would stand zero chance of beating the champions Badou Jack, James DeGale and Gilberto Ramirez. The talent just isn’t there with Smith. He’s flawed in a way that is beyond fixing in my view. I can’t see Smith even beating the likes of Lucian Bute, Jesse Hart, Arthur Abraham or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.