By Alexey Sukachev
Echo Arena, Liverpool - And he is in. James DeGale (9-0, 7 KOs) marked his arrival to the elite of the super middleweight class with a fascinating spectacle against reigning British 168lb champion and fringe world title contender Paul Smith (29-2, 15 KOs). DeGale was on a completely higher level than his established opponent and rightfully got a huge ninth round TKO win to add the BBBofC "rainbow" belt to already owned WBA International title.
It soon became obvious that WBO #4, IBF #8 and WBC #9 Smith just couldn't match his opponent blistering speed and more important his razor-sharp reflexes. From round one, DeGale, 24-years-old and Britain's only Olympic gold medalist in recent memory, was delivering his punches at will. He worked as an aggressor, threw tons of punches, switched stances and showed remarkable elusiveness - and all that was done with a visible ease.
DeGale was better in rounds one and two, then got a relative break in the third (which Smith was able to win on sheer guts and plain aggression) and after that started a slow meltdown of the champion.
Smith, 28, was cut over his right eye which added some extra frustration to his feelings. Rounds five through eight were alike and completely one-sided as Smith was unable to mount any successful attacks while DeGale was connecting with all sorts of punches. In round nine, the challenger started to toy with his opponent, landed a thunderous left hook, pinned him to the ropes and unleashed a furious series. After a minute break he did it once again, and at that point referee Howard Foster saw enough and saved Smith from further punishment. The time was 2:08 of the ninth stanza.
Notably though in the aftermath, DeGale was booed by the hostile crowd. Smith is a resident of Liverpool and was stopped for the first time in his career. Amazingly, David Haye's and George Groves' trainer, Adam Booth, noted that Groves is a fighter who will give DeGale fits - something which sounds at the moment.