bellew5 By Rachel Aylett: With the recent successes of the Smith brothers, I thought it would be good to have a look at the best fighters currently plying their trade out of Liverpool, currently the hub of boxing in the UK. I have categorized them into five groups, as you will see below.

World level

Tony Bellew, 20-1-1 (12). In some ways Bellew is lucky in that he fights in the light-heavyweight division, one of the weakest in boxing. This is a double-edged sword however as it also means there are fewer opportunities to secure big purses. Bellew has been promised a shot at the winner of Saturday night’s WBC title fight between fearsome puncher Adonis Stevenson and former IBF champion Tavoris Cloud. For the second time, therefore, he is one step away from winning a major belt, having previously come up just short against Nathan Cleverly. As his nickname “Bomber” attests to, Tony can punch. His best asset though is his boxing skill. He has the reputation of being an exciting fighter, but he has also been involved in some real bores, on the occasions when he has decided to stay on the back foot and win his fights with the jab alone. As much as we want to see the Bomber in action, Tony knows that the back foot strategy is his key to success, particularly if he has to face the deadly Stevenson. Why would you voluntarily trade with this man when you can keep him at range and box his ears off. Bellew has a great chance of winning that belt when his chance comes, probably next year.

International/European level

Paul Smith, 33-3 (19). Despite being only 30 years old, Smith is somewhat of a veteran of the sport. He seems to have been around forever. He recently won back the British super-middleweight title that he first won in October 2009 and his immediate ambition is to win the Lonsdale Belt outright. For that he needs one more successful defence and this should offer no problem for him. After that, the next step would be the European title. That title is currently vacant and it is possible that Paul might be good enough to win it, probably against Italian Mohammed Ali Ndiaye. Don’t look for him to go any higher than that though, as he has previously come up short against both James DeGale and George Groves.

Stephen Smith, 17-1 (10). Stephen recently won the British super-featherweight title in an upset against defending champion Gary Buckland of Wales. He is now a two-weight champion, having previously held the featherweight belt. With that victory, Stephen has put himself back to where he was two years ago, prior to his stunning upset knockout defeat at the hands of Lee Selby who, at the time, was disregarded, but threw a spanner into the works of Smith’s career. It was hoped and, indeed, expected prior to that fight that “Swifty” would go on to world level. Those expectations have been raised again with his excellent revival win. A title defence against top contender Gary Sykes is likely to be next for Smith. He could then go for the European title, or otherwise step in against a fringe contender. Either way he stands a good chance of progressing in the next 12 months.

Paul Butler, 13-0 (7). Butler is a super-flyweight in a hurry. He already holds the British and Commonwealth titles.

People in the UK are already talking about world title fights. This is extremely premature. Because we get to see so few of the world stars in the lower divisions, people fail to realise how good they are. The wake up call provided last Saturday by Chilean Miguel Gonzalez was therefore extremely timely. This division is not recognised in Europe, so that particular avenue of progress is not available for Butler. However, it’s imperative that he is provided with more seasoned, though not too dangerous, opponents before making his assault on the world’s top 10 contenders.

Kevin Satchell, 11-0 (2). This young flyweight also holds British and Commonwealth titles. His future is a little more uncertain than Butler’s though. In his most recent fight, a defence of his titles against Scot, Iain Butcher, he scraped home on a razor-thin decision. This was a fight he was expected to win handsomely. Tellingly, though, prior to the fight his manager Steve Wood suggested that Kevin was struggling with the flyweight limit and after one more defence would likely move up to super-fly. That, of course, raises the possibility of a local derby with Butler and, with both having big followings, boatloads of tickets would be sold for that one. As with Butler, he needs to be held back from world level until he has garnered more experience.

David Price, 15-2 (13). The future of heavyweight Price is a dilemma for all to ponder. After suffering two shattering defeats to veteran Tony Thompson, David has not commented on any facet of his future, other than to confirm that he will continue his career. He is being very sensible in taking a long break and considering his next steps. Price is still British and Commonwealth champion and needs one more defence in order to win the Lonsdale Belt outright. It is difficult to see who he could defend against, other than Dereck Chisora, who he needs to steer clear of for the immediate future. In any event, Price is not finished. He has only just turned 30 years of age, so has plenty of time in heavyweight terms. He can’t afford another disaster though.

Derry Mathews, 34-8-2 (19). Veteran Mathews is Commonwealth lightweight champion, having just successfully defended this title on Saturday. He has already been heavily defeated by the current European champion Emiliano Marsili and that particular route doesn’t seem a future option. He is open to offers and, really, will fight anyone put in front of him. I recently described him as Britain’s Katsidis – he is that exciting. However, his many wars will soon catch up with him and I expect him to drop out of this category in the next 12 months.

British/Commonwealth level

Liam Smith, 15-0-1 (5). Liam has just won the British light-middleweight title and has made it known that he would like to make three successful defences, in order to be able to keep that belt as his own. This would be a sensible course of action as, whilst defending his domestic title, he can gain vital experience before considering moving on to the next level.

Rocky Fielding, 16-0 (9). Rocky won the Commonwealth super-middleweight title fighting on the same bill as the Smith brothers on Saturday. This is a particularly tough division in Britain, as he is book-ended by two of those brothers, Paul and Callum. Fights with either of them are not on the agenda though and his next fight may see him take on another Liverpool fighter, veteran Tony Dodson, in defence of his newly-won title.

James Dickens, 16-1 (5). Jazza just came up short in his challenge for the British super-bantamweight title against Kid Galahad. However, he performed far better than expected against the favoured Kid and did his fledgling career no harm whatsoever. He is only 22 years old and I suspect he will soon get another chance and will win a British title before too long.

Callum Smith, 8-0 (6). After his sensational performance on Saturday when winning the English super-middleweight title in only his eighth fight, Callum is, in some quarters, starting to be called the best prospect in the world. This may be somewhat premature and we need to hold our horses here. He has looked terrific but we need to see how he looks when someone takes him out of the first round. That should be the immediate aim of his backers – get him some rounds.

Prospects

Neil Perkins, 4-0 (1). Neil is a former world amateur bronze medalllist from 2005, who took about five years out of the sport before returning last year as a professional middleweight. At 34 now, Neil has left it very late but is tremendously talented and may be able to make some waves if moved quickly enough.

Thomas Stalker, 5-0 (2). Captained the British Olympic team in London 2012, although missing out on a medal. Thomas turned pro in February and has surprisingly struggled somewhat, looking as though he may lack power in the tough pro ranks. Still, he proved his immense talent as one of the top amateurs in the world and will be given every opportunity by his promoter, Eddie Hearn, to make the grade.

Robbie Davies Jr., 2-0 (2). Robbie is only 23 and is the son of a famous fighting father, also named Robbie, from the 1970s-80s. Runner-up in last year’s English ABAs, this young light-welterweight looks to have a big future.

Bubbling under

Joe Selkirk, 11-0 (5). We are constantly hearing that Selkirk, a light-middleweight, is one of the most talented boxers in the country – in the gym. However, that counts for nothing and we have yet to see this form translated into the ring in his stop-start career. It was recently announced that Joe was to fight still-competitive veteran Bradley Pryce in his next fight, which would have been a decent test for him. Two weeks later Selkirk broke a finger in sparring, putting paid to yet another outing. Unfortunately, Joe seems injury-prone and, at age 28, may now have missed the boat.

Nathan Brough, 10-0 (2). Nathan is a former top amateur who returned to the ring last year at light-welterweight after having been inactive for three years due to various injuries. Nathan is 29 now and must press on or is in danger of just fading away.

Ryan Farrag, 9-1 (0). Bantamweight Farrag has been moved quite slowly so far after turning professional in October 2010. However, he has shown some promise and his only defeat is to British champion Lee Haskins in the Prizefighter tournament. At 25 he has the time but without a major promoter behind him, he might struggle to progress.

I have included Paul Butler in this round-up because, whilst being aware that he is from Ellesmere Port, I think most people regard him as a scouser.

@RachelAylett1