Saturday 19 December 2015 22:45, UK
Liam Smith produced a seventh-round stoppage against Jimmy Kelly to successfully defend his WBO world super-welterweight title at the Manchester Arena.
Smith, the more experienced fighter of the two, dominated from start to finish, winning every round on the scorecards.
The fight, part of the undercard to Billy Joe Saunders and Andy Lee's WBO middleweight bout, was Smith's first title defence since taking the belt against American John Thompson with a seventh-round stoppage in October.
The 27-year-old Liverpudlian, who fights under the tutelage of Bolton-based trainer Joe Gallagher, entered the fight with an unbeaten record of 21-0-1-KO11 whilst Manchester's Kelly, 23, also held an unbeaten record - 16-0-KO7.
Both boxers began the fight in cautious fashion, with Smith edging the earlier rounds with his solid jab. Kelly began to grow in confidence but had to be warned twice in the third round by referee Marcus McDonald for punching below the belt.
Smith began to dominate proceedings towards the end of the fourth, landing multiple uppercuts to Kelly's chin.
The challenger, who by now was fighting with a bloodied face, fought back and was able to land two powerful left hooks to Smith's body, although Smith once again took the round.
Kelly was then docked two points by the referee in the sixth round for an attempted headbutt which failed to connect. This only seemed to spur on Smith, who continued to land blows and floored Kelly in the seventh.
Kelly was now exhausted and although he was able to return to his feet referee McDonald ended the fight 2 minutes 35 seconds into the seventh round.
"I was comfortable inside so I took too many shots that I should have but I enjoyed it and I always knew I was going to win it," Smith told BoxNation after the fight.
"After the headbutt I said to him, 'If you're going to look for a way to out, go out, don't try and go out like that', I thought he was close to breaking my nose.
"Everyone tries to get the upper hand and he must have known he was losing and he had to try something to change the fight so I won't hold it against him.
"I'm just going to keep getting better and better, I'm just getting confident in my own style. Without sounding too big headed there's not too many who fight me the way I fight."
