Whilst controversy continues to rage over the ill-judged scoring in Germany, scoring that saw Paul Smith deprived of any kind of chance of becoming a world champion against Arthur Abraham last night, we?ve the views of two people close to Smith, his trainer and his promoter.
First up his trainer Joe Gallagher who had some scything things to say about the Spanish judge, Fernando Laguna, who scored it 119-109, with Gallagher remarking,
?119-109 – what can you say about that??
?The Spanish judge, he needs putting right out there.?
?I had Paul Smith level after 10. He won the 11th and Abraham came in the 12th. I had it a draw.?
?There?s one or two rounds either way but 119-109 – that just takes away all the effort Paul put into it.?
?He trained like a world champion. He fought like a proper world championship contender.?
?I?m very proud of him. He didn?t disgrace himself. Everyone thought he was going to come here and get taken out in six to eight rounds.?
?Everyone was surprised to see him at the end there. Everyone back in England can be proud of the kid because he did himself and his family proud.?
Whereas his promoter, Eddie Hearn had this to add,
‘When you come over here and box away from home sometimes you get the rough end of the stick. I had it very, very close, but what the scores have done is not give Paul Smith justice for the performance he put in.?
?In my opinion he could have got the nod, but those kind of margins are disgusting and he won?t get the credit for a wonderful performance.?
There?s not much I can add to those two views, how about you?
The Great German Stitch Up!
