Anyone hip to any footage of his pro career floating around, besides just the loss to Darren Bruce? This content is protected Better yet, know where to find an upload of the Welshman's amateur victory over countryman Joe Calzaghe? He was the penultimate man to ever defeat the Italian Dragon in the ring, for those unaware (in 1990, eighteen years before Calzaghe retired from the game!) - and the last ever Brit to do the job. There was at least one YouTube video up a couple of years ago, which you can see linked to on many sites, but any that existed have been taken down.
Smyth getting stopped by Norwegian banger Ole Klemetsen in the amateurs. No shame in that Klemetsen could give and elephant a concussion with those mighty fists of his. Clinton Woods once said Klemetsen was the hardest puncher he ever fought. This content is protected Smyth vs Calzaghe seems to have vanished I can't find a copy of it anywhere. I remember watching it though. IIRC, Calzaghe was giving him a bit of a pasting but then tired down the stretch from a combination of him going off too fast and Smyth's physical strength/power and pressure getting to him. Smyth was very muscular and powerfully built, whereas Calzaghe was tall and skinny back then. But it was razor-close, fiercely contested and a good little scrap. Michael Smyth Beat Calzaghe in the 1990 Welsh ABA final "Joe had a superb reputation as an amateur but I did not fear him. I had won two light-welterweight titles by then and also a bronze medal at the 1988 European championships in Poland, so I was the far more experienced boxer. He showed me very little respect going into the fight, made some derogatory comments about me in his local paper and was clearly confident he would win. That only gave me more motivation to succeed. I remember seeing Joe at ringside during my semi-final - he had won his earlier in the day - and as I walked past him afterwards, I looked him straight in the eye and said "You're next". He just smirked back, which annoyed me even more. Despite the rage that had built up inside me, I started our fight quite reserved and stood off Joe. That was a big mistake as it allowed him to get his shots off easily and such was the speed with which he punched I couldn't find the space or time to counter-attack. He won the first round convincingly. I attacked far better in the next two and ended up winning by a majority decision. That felt great, especially after the build-up. I shook his hand after the fight and wished him good luck but he didn't saying anything back and the last thing I remember is him throwing his second-place trophy in the bin after the presentation ceremony. He was clearly a bad loser but that also showed just how much he wanted to make it. I knew then that Joe would make it as professional. In my opinion, he has gone on to become the greatest British boxer ever." Might be able to get a hold of a copy of Smyth vs Kevin Lueshing.
He's another example of guys that fit the mold of the running joke/eerie curse in boxing where someone notches a victory over a future ATG near the end of that person's amateur run (often with the ATG never tasting defeat again, or at least not in their prime), only to have a disappointing professional campaign themselves. Henry Tillman, Serafim Todorov, etc.
