Gutted I missed this. Thought this might be on a little later as I'm watching St Helens against Huddersfield at the moment. Feel for Beefy, not surprised with him not getting a decision but it was a very risky fight to take.
From what I've read the 117-111 card was far too wide but people saying the 115-113 cards were more then fine, lots of close rounds and could of gone either way. Will need to give it a watch myself once replay is up.
Smith deserved the win. Gutted he didn't get it, he fought great tonight. Kurbanov was good too and it made a good fight, but Smith done enough to get the nod in my eyes. Both tough competitors, good chins, output and fitness between the both of them, but thought Smith was just that bit better in most departments and should've scored a knockdown in round 1 to cement the win, but boxing is all too predictable sometimes as we know, and we knew Smith probably needed a KO to have any chance of victory tonight.
I was only able to catch this one from the 5th round onwards. I had beefy winning 6 out of the 8 rounds I watched. It was a great fight. The Russian could pop and had a decent set of whiskers on him. Smith did outwork him but both men hurt each other. Smith was able to get onto the inside and let his hands go and he did hurt Kurbanov. In the rounds Smith won; 5 out of 6 were clear rounds for him, so I don’t see how he “lost” Another tale of an away fighter not getting the decision.
Agree, but we must stop accepting this. Regardless of how risky something is. If you win the fight you should get the decision. The amount of people I’ve seen on social media say Liam well won but basically accept the fact he was robbed and almost blame Smith for taking it.
This wasn’t as close as many are making out. EVEN IF you take out the clear knockdown and the fact the knackered Russian (who I won’t name out of spite and because I can’t be arsed learning the spelling) should have been deducted numerous points for holding on. Smith forced the fight, controlled the distance had centre ring and couldn’t miss with his jab from the 3rd onwards. The Russian was blowing from the 5th onward and in survival mode hoping for one big shot whilst backing up or against the ropes for half of it. Smith put his shots together brilliantly, some great combos and was first and last in most of the exchanges. He landed countless big, clean right hands which to his credit the Russian took well despite being hurt a couple of times. The Russian was laughing in round 1/2 as Smith tried a few shots and missed or skimmed him and they didn’t hurt. His smirk was soon gone and the women watching him half way through were almost in tears. That’s usually a good indicator of how the fight is going. The Russian hurt Smith badly twice but it was right at the end of the round and wasn’t enough to flip the previous 2 mins 50 secs. Especially as Beefy threw as much as he received while he was buzzed until the bell. I now have another fighter I can’t wait to see get knocked out. The repercussions, both financially and legacy wise for a 32 year old Light middle weight are big when you get jobbed like that. I may seem a bit overly passionate about this one but if you watched the fight and saw just how Liam Smith fought you’d understand.
Liam won that fight comfortably. Big robbery Although Russia is usually fair with scoring . I don't know how much he got paid but it seemed a stupid move taking this fight when it wasn't even a world title final eliminator
This. What now for Smith? 32 and probably not going to get a World Title shot anytime soon, is it worth fighting any of the British 154ers?
He could but he would beat them all handily. Seen when he dropped down to that level to fight Eggington in a tick over. Would like to see him v Fowler in a Liverpool derby but cant see it happening.