By Nate Anderson: Super middleweight Paul Smith (26-1, 15 KOs) stopped Tanzanian journeyman Rashid Matumla (38-11, 29 KOs) in the 2nd round on Saturday night to pick up the vacant WBA International super middleweight title at the M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, Lancashire. Smith, 26, knocked Matumla down three times in the 2nd round of a one-sided fight. After the third knockdown, which was actually a result of a push, the referee Jose Ignacio Martinez stopped the bout at 2:35 of the round.
It didn’t matter, though, because Matumla was hopelessly overmatched in this fight and would no doubt have been visiting the canvas shortly thereafter should the fight been allowed to continue.
Smith, ranked number #11 in the WBO middleweight division, looked very impressive, putting together beautiful combinations and looking much more comfortable at super middleweight compared to when he was fighting as a middleweight.
He immediately went after Matumla in the 1st round, jabbing him repeatedly in the 1st minute of the round. He would later start throwing some nice left-right combinations and giving Matumla few chances to get his own punches off. Matumla, 40, looked to be hopelessly outgunned as he was hit often in the round without being able to land much of anything of his own.
Early in the 2nd round, Smith caught Matumla against the ropes and nailed him with a right, left right combination that sent Matumla sliding sideways against the ropes trying to escape. While Matumla was moving backwards, Smith nailed him with two jabs that sent Matumla down.
Though technically it was scored a knockdown, it seemed like more of a case of Matumla’s feet getting tangled as he was backing away. After Matumla got to his feet, Smith went after him thinking the was hurt, and landed three straight jabs and then a big left hook to the head that put Matumla down on the canvas at 1:30 of the round.
This time, there was no question that it was a legitimate knockdown. Matumla was soon after hit with a huge right hand from Smith and then a big right uppercut that sent Matumla retreating across the ring. Smith caught up to him and blasted him with a big right hand that buckled Matumla’s knees.
A fraction of a second later, Smith shoved Matumla to the canvas which the referee, who was partially shielded from the action, counted as the third knockdown of the round. After Matumla got o his feet at the count of seven, the referee looked him over for a second then waived it off at 2:35 of the round.
“I think I can win a title at super middleweight,” Smith said after the fight. “I want a title fight; I want the title money, and want to move on with my career and get past the British level.”
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