Just how good is Paul Smith?
When legendary trainer Jose "Pepe" Correa said to Liverpool's "Real Gone Kid" Paul Smith "If you don't go on to win a World title I'll kiss your behind." I had to ask myself, Just how good is Paul Smith?
Correa has 40 years experience in boxing and has trained multi world title winning fighters like "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Lennox Lewis so he certainly should know what a fighter needs to have if he is going to reach the top. All fighters would welcome some praise from a man so respected within the industry but what he said to Smith was much more than praise. It showed a belief that Smith could fight among the Super Middleweight elite.
Undefeated 2002 Commonwealth Silver medallist, Smith, can certainly bang. In the pre tournament tests in the Contender series he scored the highest marks for punching power. He has stopped or KO'ed 12 of his 21 victims and beaten decent, if not world class, opposition in Jonathan Reid (a former WBA world Middleweight title challenger) and Ryan Walls but world title?
I've only seen the edited version of his recent 5 round victory over American David Banks but Smith looked ragged and often one dimensional as he plodded forward looking for a knockout. Every fighter has a bad night and the 25 year old admitted "It wasn't my best performance. I took too many shots."
Sugar Ray told him in the dressing room afterwards "You're a better fighter than you showed." I'm inclined to believe this is true also. Smith may not be the most stylish operator but he certainly can do better and it was evident that his emotions and desire to stop Banks impaired his performance. He has a return bout with Banks (a fighter who has previous lost to Peter Manfredo Jnr over 10 rounds) in November on the undercard of The Contender final and this will be his opportunity to show that he really is a class above the man from Portland, Oregon.
So back to my orginal question.
How good is Paul Smith and can he win a world title? We'll, at 25 years old he has time to work on his technique and improve. As top level British trainer Billy Graham once said "Even the really good kids need some schooling." He should box better in his rematch with Banks and I'd fancy him to win by knock out this time around. From then on I'd like to see how he'd cope with a step up fight against a fringe level contender like Allen Green or Fulgencio Zuniga or even Peter Manfredo. At that stage it would be easier to assess his prospects but if I was put on the spot right here and now then the answer would be: YES. He can go on to take world honours but he is still a work in progress and a few years and at least 8 fights away from it.
When legendary trainer Jose "Pepe" Correa said to Liverpool's "Real Gone Kid" Paul Smith "If you don't go on to win a World title I'll kiss your behind." I had to ask myself, Just how good is Paul Smith?
Correa has 40 years experience in boxing and has trained multi world title winning fighters like "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Lennox Lewis so he certainly should know what a fighter needs to have if he is going to reach the top. All fighters would welcome some praise from a man so respected within the industry but what he said to Smith was much more than praise. It showed a belief that Smith could fight among the Super Middleweight elite.
Undefeated 2002 Commonwealth Silver medallist, Smith, can certainly bang. In the pre tournament tests in the Contender series he scored the highest marks for punching power. He has stopped or KO'ed 12 of his 21 victims and beaten decent, if not world class, opposition in Jonathan Reid (a former WBA world Middleweight title challenger) and Ryan Walls but world title?
I've only seen the edited version of his recent 5 round victory over American David Banks but Smith looked ragged and often one dimensional as he plodded forward looking for a knockout. Every fighter has a bad night and the 25 year old admitted "It wasn't my best performance. I took too many shots."
Sugar Ray told him in the dressing room afterwards "You're a better fighter than you showed." I'm inclined to believe this is true also. Smith may not be the most stylish operator but he certainly can do better and it was evident that his emotions and desire to stop Banks impaired his performance. He has a return bout with Banks (a fighter who has previous lost to Peter Manfredo Jnr over 10 rounds) in November on the undercard of The Contender final and this will be his opportunity to show that he really is a class above the man from Portland, Oregon.
So back to my orginal question.
How good is Paul Smith and can he win a world title? We'll, at 25 years old he has time to work on his technique and improve. As top level British trainer Billy Graham once said "Even the really good kids need some schooling." He should box better in his rematch with Banks and I'd fancy him to win by knock out this time around. From then on I'd like to see how he'd cope with a step up fight against a fringe level contender like Allen Green or Fulgencio Zuniga or even Peter Manfredo. At that stage it would be easier to assess his prospects but if I was put on the spot right here and now then the answer would be: YES. He can go on to take world honours but he is still a work in progress and a few years and at least 8 fights away from it.
By Andy Wake
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