Liam Smith Scores a Quirky KO in Liverpool; Natasha Jonas Wins Too

Liam “Beefy” Smith, the second-youngest of Liverpool’s four fighting Smith brothers, had the home field advantage tonight when he opposed former sparring partner Hassan Mwakinyo, a 27-year-old Tanzanian who came in on a 10-fight winning streak. Smith, who has never lost a fight in Liverpool where he is now 17-0, kept that skein intact while advancing his record to 32-3-1(19 KOs) by way of a quirky fourth-round stoppage at M&S Bank (formerly Echo) Arena.

Near the end of round three in what was a fairly even fight, Mwakinyo slipped and appeared to hurt his ankle. In the next round, Smith bullied the Tanzanian to the canvas twice without landing a solid shot. On the assumption that Mwakinyo was compromised by an ankle injury, the referee waived it off.

Photo credit: Lawrence Lustig / BOXXER

To many in the audience, it appeared that Mwakinyo (20-3) had quit and he was jeered as he left the ring. “I’m a bit gutted that I never gave the fans a proper finish,” said Beefy in his post-fight interview.

Smith, 32, is ranked in the top four at super welterweight by three of the four major sanctioning bodies, but at the weigh-in he tipped the scales at a career-high 159 ¼ pounds, an indication that heading forward he is likely to compete as a middleweight. His potential opponents for his next fight include the newly-installed WBO kingpin Janibek “Qazaq Style” Alimkhanuly.

Liam Smith’s new promoter Ben Shalom calls Alimkhanuly the most avoided fighter in boxing.

Co-Feature

In a battle between super welterweight title-holders, Liverpool southpaw Natasha Jonas (13-2-1) successfully defended her WBO world title and acquired the WBC diadem with a lopsided 10-round decision over Sweden’s previously undefeated Patricia Borghult. The aggressor throughout, Jonas, a 6/1 favorite, won by scores of 99-91 and 100-90 twice.

Jonas has moved up two weight classes since her failed bid to wrest the unified lightweight title from former Olympic rival Katie Taylor. Although Borghult at age 28 was the younger woman by 10 years, the one-sidedness of the fight was no great surprise as Borghult’s 15-0 record was forged against tepid opposition.

After the bout, Jonas expressed an interest in unifying the title. The WBA belt-holder is Scotland’s Hannah Rankin. The IBF title-holder is Canada’s Marie Eve Dicaire.

Also

In the first defense of his BBBofC light heavyweight title, Dan Aleez (17-0, 11 KOs) successfully defended his belt and remained undefeated with a 12-round unanimous decision over former title-holder Shakan Pitters, 17-2 (6). The judges had it 117-111, 117-112, and 115-113. Aleez, an Essex University graduate with a degree in finance/accounting, had Buddy McGirt in his corner.

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