The late great AJ Leibling quoted manager Jack Kearn on Billy: “He was always doing something mysterious. Like he would step on your foot and when you looked down he would bite you on the ear.”
Bob Fitzsimmons said he thought Smith on his best day could beat any Welterweight. I think he was the next best welterweight in his era to the legendary Tommy Ryan and Joe Walcott. He was an extremely rough brawler, Tommy Ryan called him the foulest fighter he fought, and he's thought to have been DQ'd more than any other fighter. Bit of a patchy record but some very good wins. The Welterweight title in that period is a bit of a mess.
He was sometimes mentioned in discussions about the greatest welterweight of all time, up to at least the second world war. He was the first man to regain the welterweight title, and beat most of the top men in an absolutely stacked era.
Terry McGovern claimed that Billy Smith would have beaten Les Darcy, along with everybody else from that era. https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/55287799/?terms=mysterious+billy+smith
Smith's 1898 fight against Barbados Joe Walcott. When the referee asked them how they intended to fight, Smith replied "any old way!" https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50342110/?terms=mysterious+billy+smith
I love his disclaimer "I haven't seen this Darcy but I have seen his record and I think these fellers I have named would do just what I say they would". This after he tipped practically everyone from his era to beat Darcy with one hand tied behind their back. The sport really hasn't changed that much in a century has it?
Not to mention, Of No Fixed Abode Billy Smith who unsurprisingly was listed as being from nowhere in particular.
Smith beating Joe Walcott The sun., December 07, 1898, Page 5, Image 5 http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lc...asetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=range&page=1
If you want to delve a little deeper then here's some reading material Previous thread - https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/featured-fighter-mysterious-billy-smith-wip.609266/ A bio profile - http://realcombatmedia.com/2015/01/...ysterious-billy-smith-dirtiest-fighter-lived/ Senya's blog with fight report writeups - http://senya13.blogspot.com/search/label/Mysterious Billy Smith Patrick Connor's write up on KId Lavigne fight - http://thecomeback.com/queensberryr...sterious-billy-smith-hammers-kid-lavigne.html Charlie White who was heavily involved in boxing around Smith's era profiled Billy - http://fultonhistory.com/highlighte...lton%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf&openFirstHlPage=false http://fultonhistory.com/highlighte...lton%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf&openFirstHlPage=false Another piece 2 part piece from St John's Review - http://www.stjohnsreview.com/sourcefiles/2012/23 Nov 6 2012.pdf http://www.stjohnsreview.com/sourcefiles/2012/24 Nov 23 2012.pdf Blog post about Smith's burial plot - http://portlandwaterfront.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-champions-rest.html