Last night, across the pond, the fight between Andre Ward and Paul Smith turned out exactly as many predicted.
The Liverpool fighter suffered a third straight defeat. After two losses to Arthur Abraham, fight sin which Smith was at least able to offer something decent going forward, Smith was totally out-classed by a fighter making his return to the ring after a nineteen month absence.
At the Oracle Arena, in Oakland, California, Ward was able to pick off Smith at will and, to be honest, it was a surprise that the fight lasted until the ninth round before Smith?s corner threw the towel in.
To make matters worse for Smith, after being fined for coming in over the prescribed 172 pound weight for this catch-weight contest at the weigh-in and being fined, Smith also failed to make the prescribed 181 pound weight limit on the morning of the fight.
He weight issues, for whatever reason Smith chose to go down that route, saw the Liverpool fighter lose $60,000 of his $225,000 purse.
After this third loss, on the bounce, it remains unclear as to what the future holds for the popular fighter. Smith has previously expressed a desire to fight the top-fighters but having failed when matched against them does he really want to slip back to European or domestic level?
Ward Beats Smith in Nine!
