Stephen Smith (boxer)

Stephen Francis Smith (born 22 July 1985) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2019.[3] He challenged twice for a super-featherweight world championship; the IBF and WBA titles, both in 2016. At regional level he held multiple championships, including the British and Commonwealth featherweight titles and the British super-featherweight title between 2010 and 2013.

Stephen Smith
Smith in 2011
Statistics
Real nameStephen Francis Smith
Nickname(s)Swifty
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 6+12 in (169 cm)
Reach66 in (168 cm)
Born (1985-07-22) 22 July 1985
Liverpool, Merseyside, England
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights32
Wins28
Wins by KO15
Losses4
Medal record
boxing
Representing  England[1]
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 Melbourne Featherweight
Commonwealth Championships
Gold medal – first place 2007 Liverpool Featherweight
Silver medal – second place 2005 Glasgow[2] Featherweight
European Amateur Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Plovdiv Featherweight

Amateur career

A distinguished amateur with over 150 fights, Smith represented Rotunda ABC and achieved fame at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne when he defeated Mehrullah Lassi in the final to win Commonwealth Gold. He also won a bronze medal at the 2006 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Plovdiv, losing in the semi-final of that tournament to Albert Selimov. He also won the ABA championships in 2005 and 2006, the Four Nations in 2006 and Gold at the 2007 Commonwealth Federation Championships held in Liverpool.[4]

At the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Chicago, US he was defeated in the first round losing 20:14 to German Marcel Herfurth, in a tournament in which he had been expected to perform well.[5]

Professional career

Smith turned professional on 21 June 2008 and stopped Shaun Walton in the 3rd round at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.[6] Like his brother he signed for Warren's Sports Network[7] and has since had a further 11 fights, all wins.

Smith vs. Simpson

Smith became Commonwealth featherweight champion after he edged a points verdict over John Simpson in a tight scrap in Glasgow on 4 September 2010. A 114–116, 116–114, 116–112 decision was announced following a gruelling battle. During the re-match on 27 April 2011, Smith once again won on points with judges scores of 114–114, 115–114 and 118–112. However Simpson argued the judges scores were off target.

Smith vs. Selby

Smith fought the Welsh challenger Lee Selby on 17 September 2011, in a British and Commonwealth title defence at the Olympia, Liverpool where he was stopped in the 8th round by a Selby left hand.

Since losing to Selby, Smith fought Arpad Vass in the Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany on 18 February 2012 winning via KO in Round 1. On 2 March 2012 Smith fought Ben Jones at The Troxy in London winning that fight via TKO in Round 1. On 1 June 2012 Smith fought for the third time in 2012 against Jose Luis Graterol at the York Hall winning again this time on points over 8 rounds.

Smith was due to fight on 8 March 2013 on the undercard of Yaqub Kareem v Paul Butler at the Liverpool Olympia however the fight was rescheduled to 12 April 2013. On 8 April 2013 Frank Warren confirmed that the event had been cancelled.

Smith fought for the first time in 13 months on 28 June 2013 against Eddie Nebitt of Belfast at the Liverpool Olympia and won via KO in Round 1. In his next fight on 17 August 2013 against Gary Buckland at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Smith won the British Super featherweight title after he KO'd Buckland in Round 5.

Promotions change

In October 2013 Smith announced he was breaking his contract with Frank Warren and signing with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom organisation. Warren took action through the courts and with the British Boxing Board of Control against Smith's contract termination.

On 31 October 2013 Smith was ordered by the British Boxing Board of Control to fight on 7 December 2013 in Liverpool under the Frank Warren promotion, Smith refused and relinquished his belt, the following day Smith was suspended by the BBBoC pending further investigation into his and Eddie Hearn's conduct in the switch.

On 15 November 2013 Smith was handed back his licence by the BBBoC and his first fight under Matchroom promotions was confirmed to be against Sergio Manuel Medina on the undercard of the Carl Froch v George Groves at Manchester's Phones 4u arena on 23 November 2013, Smith won the fight via KO in Round 8 and won the vacant WBC International Silver super featherweight title.

Smith vs. Sosa

On 12 November, 2016, Smith fought Jason Sosa. Sosa won the fight comfortably on all three scorecards, 117-110, 116-111 and 116-112.[8]

Smith vs. Vargas

On 17 August, 2017, Smith fought Francisco Vargas, who was ranked #2 by the WBC at super featherweight. Vargas won the fight in the ninth round via a technical decision.[9]

Professional boxing record

32 fights 28 wins 4 losses
By knockout 15 1
By decision 13 3
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
32 Win 28–4 United Kingdom Jonny Phillips PTS 6 23 Nov 2019 United Kingdom Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
31 Win 27–4 United Kingdom Jaime Quinn PTS 6 16 Jun 2019 United Kingdom Woodhouse Park Lifestyle Centre, Manchester, England
30 Win 26–4 United Kingdom Des Newton PTS 6 10 May 2019 United Kingdom Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England
29 Loss 25–4 Mexico Francisco Vargas TD 9 (10) 9 Dec 2017 United States Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Smith lost by a technical decision after an accidental headbutt left him with his left ear almost detached[10]
28 Win 25–3 Hungary Karoly Gallovich KO 1 (6) 17 Jun 2017 Germany Rittal Arena, Wetzlar, Germany
27 Loss 24–3 United States Jason Sosa UD 12 12 Nov 2016 Monaco Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco For WBA (Regular) super featherweight title
26 Win 24–2 Argentina Daniel Brizuela TKO 7 (12) 29 May 2016 United Kingdom Goodison Park, Liverpool, England Won vacant WBC Silver super featherweight title
25 Loss 23–2 Puerto Rico José Pedraza UD 12 16 Apr 2016 United States Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket, Connecticut, U.S. For IBF super featherweight title
24 Win 23–1 Italy Devis Boschiero TKO 6 (12) 19 Sep 2015 United Kingdom Liverpool Olympia, Liverpool, England
23 Win 22–1 United Kingdom Barrington Brown PTS 6 4 Apr 2015 United Kingdom Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
22 Win 21–1 Poland Jacek Wylezol PTS 6 28 Mar 2014 United Kingdom Motorpoint Arena Sheffield, Sheffield, England
21 Win 20–1 Mexico Pedro Navarrete PTS 8 14 Jun 2014 United Kingdom Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
20 Win 19–1 Argentina Mauricio Javier Munoz RTD 8 (12) 21 May 2014 United Kingdom First Direct Arena, Leeds, England Won WBC Silver super featherweight title
19 Win 18–1 Argentina Sergio Manuel Medina KO 8 (10) 23 Nov 2013 United Kingdom Phones4u Arena, Manchester, England Won vacant WBC International Silver super featherweight title
18 Win 17–1 United Kingdom Gary Buckland KO 5 (12) 17 Aug 2013 United Kingdom Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales Won British super featherweight title
17 Win 16–1 Republic of Ireland Eddie Nesbitt KO 1 (6) 28 Jun 2013 United Kingdom Liverpool Olympia, Liverpool, England
16 Win 15–1 Venezuela Jose Luis Graterol PTS 8 1 Jun 2012 United Kingdom York Hall, London, England
15 Win 14–1 United Kingdom Ben Jones TKO 1 (12) 2 Mar 2012 United Kingdom The Troxy, London, England Won WBO Intercontinental super featherweight title
14 Win 13–1 Hungary Arpad Vass KO 1 (8) 18 Feb 2012 Germany Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany
13 Loss 12–1 United Kingdom Lee Selby KO 8 (12) 17 Sep 2011 United Kingdom Liverpool Olympia, Liverpool, England Lost British featherweight title
12 Win 12–0 United Kingdom John Simpson MD 12 27 Apr 2011 United Kingdom Liverpool Olympia, Liverpool, England Won British featherweight title
11 Win 11–0 United Kingdom John Simpson SD 12 4 Sep 2010 United Kingdom Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland Won Commonwealth featherweight title
10 Win 10–0 United Kingdom Jason Thomas TKO 1 (8) 12 Mar 2010 United Kingdom Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
9 Win 9–0 United Kingdom Chris Riley PTS 4 5 Dec 2009 United Kingdom Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
8 Win 8–0 United Kingdom Gavin Reid PTS 8 30 Oct 2009 United Kingdom Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
7 Win 7–0 Hungary Zsolt Nagy PTS 6 22 May 2009 United Kingdom York Hall, London, England
6 Win 6–0 United Kingdom Steve Gethin RTD 1 (4) 28 Feb 2009 United Kingdom National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England
5 Win 5–0 United Kingdom Anthony Hanna PTS 4 12 Dec 2008 United Kingdom Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, England
4 Win 4–0 United Kingdom Sid Razak TKO 3 (4) 31 Oct 2008 United Kingdom Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Birmingham, England
3 Win 3–0 United Kingdom Robin Deakin TKO 2 (4) 10 Oct 2008 United Kingdom Everton Park Sports Centre, Liverpool, England
2 Win 2–0 Moldova Wladimir Borov TKO 1 (4) 6 Sep 2008 United Kingdom MEN Arena, Manchester, England
1 Win 1–0 United Kingdom Shaun Walton KO 3 (4) 21 Jun 2008 United Kingdom National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England

Personal life

Stephen Smith is the younger brother of the boxer; Paul Smith, and the older brother of the boxers; Liam Smith, and Callum Smith.[11]

References

  1. "SMITH Stephen Francis". Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. 2006.
  2. "4th Commonwealth Championships". Amateur Boxing. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  3. "Stephen 'Swifty' Smith Retires From Boxing". Boxing Social. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  4. ABA | Stephen Smith
  5. Liverpool Echo | Blow for Liverpool's Smith
  6. Stephen Smith Professional Record
  7. Smith to turn pro with Warren
  8. "Sosa vs Smith - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  9. "Vargas vs Smith - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  10. "Boxer Nearly Loses Ear. We Nearly Lose Our Lunch. (GRAPHIC)". HuffPost. 11 December 2017.
  11. "Biography at boxrec.com". boxrec.com. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.

Stephen Smith - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live

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