Callum “Mundo” Smith (17-0-0 12 KOs) was involved in a tough yet intriguing contest against Christopher “L’iceberg” Rebrasse (23-4-3 6 KOs), that saw the Liverpudlian have to work very hard to earn a points win. Rebrasse was always in the fight and really put it on Callum in the early to middle rounds. The Frenchman applied educated pressure to Smith throughout the fight backing him up against the ropes but not once did Callum look to be phased keeping his composure at all times.
Smith found success to the body, as he usually does but found it difficult to land clearly to the head due to the shell like guard of Rebrasse. As the fight wore on Rebrasse started to tire because of the amount of punches he was putting out and the amount of body shots Callum was landing.
In the 10th Callum landed a wicked hook to the body sending Rebrasse to the canvas but was unable to get him out of there. The judges scored the contest 118-110, 118-110 and 120-107 all in favour of Smith but if you didn’t watch the fight don’t be fooled by those wide scorecards. This fight will put Callum in good stead for the future and he’ll have learned an awful lot that he can take into his following fights. Smith has several options but it’s quite clear to him and Matchroom they are desperate for the George Groves fight, especially if the WBC title is on the line.
“Rebrasse was very tough, I have to give him a lot of credit,” said Smith. “He kept coming but I knew that going in there and that is why I chose to box him. I would have looked stupid going in there trying to blow him out of there. I respect his durability, he has proved it at the highest level. I think I showed that I can box and if I do go past one round I can stick to a game plan and do it but I did the 12 comfortably enough and felt I could have given more but what I was doing was working.
“I enjoy the early knockouts but if I am going to progress and go on to become a World champion I need fights like this. I feel I am improving all of the time and the only thing I need is experience, and I am gaining that.
“The left hand is a bit sore but hopefully it is just a bit of bruising. It went in the fifth but I still had to throw it, I can’t sit around and moan I have to throw and if I didn’t he would have come back into the fight. That’s boxing; you get injuries and you have to deal with them.
Promoter Eddie Hearn added: “Callum debuted on a Kell Brook card two and a half years ago and now he is headlining in his home town. It is great to watch a great young fighter come through the amateur ranks from the England to headlining his hometown. It is all about developing the fighters the right way and I feel his development has been first class.
“People thought Callum was automatically going to win tonight but we knew how tough that fight was. There has been a lot of fight around Callum but that was the prefect fight and luckily the hype is real. He is going to be number one in the WBC now.
“That is going to put him on fight for challenging for the world title. Groves fights Jack and we feel we are only one fight away from that. The Rocky Fielding fight is a great fight for Liverpool but Callum has his eyes on World titles and that was the perfect performance. They are the kind of fights that will develop him as a fighter and he will probably have learnt more tonight than throughout his whole career.
“That is going to stand him in good stead when he challenges for the World title. It is within 12 months.”
Smith’s trainer Joe Gallagher added: “Callum came back after round five and said his left hand had gone – it didn’t look like that in round ten when he dropped him with a body shot. What a rapid rise, he only turned professional two and a half years ago and here he is headlining the Echo Arena and has just won the WBC Silver belt. I am very pleased Liverpool came out tonight to support Callum Smith because they have a huge future World champion here.”
Rocky Fielding (21-0-0 12 KOs) took on American Brian Vera (23-10-0 14 KOs) in a fight that was expected to be a war over 12 rounds but obviously Rocky had different ideas. Fielding put Vera down at the end of the first but it was too late to capitalise on his success. The bell rang for the second and both men went toe to toe but Fielding was just too accurate for Vera and during a bit of confusion caused by referee Ian John-Lewis the American was down due to a powerful left hook. Vera got back to his feet but was unsteady and Fielding with time on his hands this round capitalised and forced the stoppage. Regardless of the poor refereeing it was still a top-level performance by Rocky that’s pushed him towards bigger fights.
“I was expecting a tough fight, I am not going to lie,” said Fielding. “I was expecting a hard 12 rounds in there.”
“In the changing rooms warming up we were trying to slip his jab with the left upper cut and it worked. I didn’t even know I threw it, I just threw it, caught him and he went down. I was buzzing with that”
Both Rocky Fielding and Callum Smith will leave the arena tonight extremely pleased with their performances and even though the fight isn’t on the horizon for the immediate future, when it does happen it will be massive in Liverpool. Hopefully when the two clash it’ll be for a version of the world title.
Martin Murray (30-2-1 13 KOs) looked strong in his 168lb debut constantly walking down George Beroshvil (19-6-2 12 KOs). Martin cut off the ring well only taking two rounds to take out the Georgian via a vicious body shot. There are plenty of fights out there for the St Helens man with the likes of George Groves, James DeGale, Callum Smith and Martins stable mate Rocky Fielding all doing their bit in the Super Middleweight division. Martin Murray has expressed his desire to take on Carl Froch but sadly retirement is looking like the next move for The Cobra.
“I felt great in there, very strong and I think that Super Middleweight is going to be my good for me,” said Murray.
“I will leave it to Eddie and Oliver Harrison to see where we go next but I can see myself in some big fights”
Hearn added: “Martin’s had great fights with big names, he has a great following and he can get the big fights at Super Middleweight. I want to get him out ASAP so we’ll sit down right away and plot the next fight, but it’s a great start at Super Middleweight for him.”
Tony “The Bomber” Bellew (24-2-1 15 KOs) defeated Ivica Bacurin (22-8-1 12 KOs) by 10th round TKO continuing his way to the top of the Cruiserweight division. Bellew displayed good discipline and control throughout the bout knocking down the Croatian three times eventually getting him out of there in the last round.
“I got ill last week but there was no way I was missing this,” said Bellew.
“It was great to be back in there and back where I belong. I am ready for a World title shot. Eddie Hearn has delivered on every word he has said from day one and I believe that he will bring me that shot.”
Hearn added: “We want the winner of the IBF title fight in July and we’ll look to get him in there for that belt in October or November – it has to be a World title next for Tony.”
– Craig Best / @superbestyaway
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