By Scott Gilfoid: Paul Smith (31-3, 17 KO’s) is supposedly interested in trying to recapture the British super middleweight strap which is now safely in the hands of Scotland’s Kenny Anderson (18-1, 13 KO’s). Smith, 30, is coming off a 2nd round knockout against George Groves last year in November and is scheduled to finally get back in the ring next month on November 9th against a still to be determined opponent at the Olympia, in Liverpool, UK.
It’s hard to believe that Smith has let an entire year go by without fighting. What has the guy been doing all this time? It’s not as if he’s young and can afford to miss four fights. The guy is 30, and no spring chicken. At any rate, he’s probably going to be matched up against a weak opponent to try and get him an easy win so he can get his confidence back.
I think Smith is barking up the wrong tree if he tries to get a fight against Anderson, however. I know it’s just a domestic level strap and that Anderson is nowhere near as good as most of the top 15 contenders littered around the four different sanctioning bodies, but he’s a huge puncher and he’ll give Smith a ton of problems with his power if this fight gets made next year. I think Smith needs to know his limitations and perhaps to for the English strap instead or better yet stick to broadcasting. He doesn’t have the chin to stand in with Anderson, and he’ll only suffer yet another knockout loss. Smith has been blasted out in two out of his last five fights, and I think you can add a third fight if he takes on Anderson.
I don’t know where Smith can go from here. He’s not world class, and he can’t beat Anderson, and definitely not the EBU champion James DeGale. We already saw Smith get whipped by him.
What Smith should be doing is losing some of that baby fat on his frame and moving down to middleweight where he might have a tiny chance of picking up the British 160 pound strap. He doesn’t belong at 168, because his chin can’t deal with the power from the fighters at this weight and he looks like he’s got a coat of fat on him that he could definitely lose to get down to 160.
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