Smith Suffers Berlin Heartbreak

Over in Berlin last night, Liverpool?s Paul Smith gave his all in a gallant attempt to wrestle the world title belt from Arthur Abraham.

After the furore surrounding the scoring in the first fight, Abraham had graciously given Smith a second tilt at his world title.

But whilst Smith put in a display that was far better than in the first fight, it appears that Abraham was determined not to leave anything to chance and took his opponent far more seriously this time.

Although Smith, in the middle rounds had some success with his body-shots, Abraham always looked the better fight and looked to be controlling matters from the first bell to the last bell.

All credit to Smith for going the distance though but the verdicts from the three judges of:-

? 116-112
? 117-111
? 117-111

Accurately reflected what we?d witnessed and, unlike the first fight, Smith really could have no regrets.

Speaking to the media after the fight, Smith gave his version of how the night had gone, commenting,

?It was a fair result and I?ve no excuses whatsoever.

?I started off okay but I wish I hadn?t got caught early with the body shots and the head shot. He made things difficult.

?I knew I was hurting him but he has such a poker face and you can?t tell any emotion from him.

?He?s a world champion with 40-odd fights and so much experience at the top level.
?I felt I was better than the first fight but so was he.

?He did the job. I felt I left it all in there and I won?t go home with any regrets.?

Exactly Paul, you gave your all against a champion who is an exceptional foe. However, with two world title defeats on the record books now, questions are bound to be asked as to where Paul Smith goes from here.