By Scott Gilfoid: Undefeated #1 WBC Callum Smith 23-0, 17 KOs) easily defeated Erik Skoglund (26-1, 12 KOs by lackluster a 12 round unanimous on Saturday night in the quarter finals fight for the two of them in the World Boxing Super Series at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. The final judges’ scores were 116-112, 117-110, and 117-111. Boxing News 24 scored it 116-112 for Smith. He got the win, but he was less than spectacular in beating the Swedish fighter Skoglund. Smith is lucky he wasn’t fighting Chris Eubank Jr. or George Groves tonight.
In round 11, Smith knocked Skoglund down. Smith, 27, fought well at the start of the fight, but then he did very little in the middle of the fight. Towards the end of the fight, Smith seemed to wake up and take the fight to Skoglund to finish well. However, Smith fought like he was really rusty and not the fighter he’d been in his previous fight.
Whether that was rust of simply Smith fighting someone a lot better than the mostly mediocre guys that he’s built his impressive resume against is unclear.
The performance from Smith wasn’t the type of fight that will cause any worry from George Groves or Chris Eubank Jr. Those guys would have to be seen as the favorites against Callum Smith with the way he fought tonight.
Smith can fight a little bit, but he’s like a big stork inside the ring. He’s so easy to hit with the way he stands straight up like a tall bird. Smith can punch well to the body, but his defense is shaky and his stamina is not great. With the way Smith fought tonight, I could see him getting beaten by the following fighters at 168:
Chris Eubank Jr.
George Groves
Gilberto Ramirez
Jesse Hart
David Benavidez
Anthony Dirrell
There’s a lot of money to be made for Smith if he can improve his game and come out with a better performance in his next fight. I just don’t know if he can handle the likes of Groves or Eubank Jr. Those guys are a lot better than what I saw tonight from Smith.
In other results on the card, former 4 time world title challenger super middleweight Martin Murray (36-4-1, 17 KOs) stopped Arman Torosyan (18-4-1, 15 KOs) by a 4th round knockout. Murray stopped Torosyan with a body shot. Murray looked good in the fight, but his opponent was poor. That’s been the story of Murray’s career. He looked great against 2nd and 3rd tier opposition, but then he falls apart against the good fighters.
Murray was teeing off with power shots against a guy that didn’t belong in the same ring with him. It’s too bad Murray doesn’t fight like this when he faces good opposition. He wastes too much time with his clam shell defense, and doesn’t throw punches when he faces guys that possess talent. I’ll be shocked if Murray gets a 5th world title in the near future. I don’t understand how the guy keeps getting world title fights so often despite him never beating any good fighters to earn the shots.