By Chris Glover
Manchester, Manchester Arena - In his first defense of the WBO world light middleweight championship, Liam Smith 22-0-1 (12 KOs) retained the belt after systematic display of power against a game Jimmy Kelly Jimmy Kelly 16-1 (7 KOs).
The opening stages saw both fighters land meaningful punches. Smith and Kelly showed good variety in their attacks. Manchester's Kelly looked good when boxing from range however 'Beefy' looked the stronger of the two especially when on the inside.
The champion Smith put his shots together well in the mid rounds as did his North West counterpart. Beefy's shots however seemed more effective. That showed at the end of the fifth as both fighters traded body shots with the champion's appearing to hurt more.
Kelly was deducted two points in round six for what was a blatant headbutt. Many may have scored every round to Smith at this point as the headbutt looked as a tactic to upset Smith's effective rhythm.
Kelly was down in the seventh but was not given a count and seconds later the towel came in after relentless body shots from Smith. Kelly gave a good account of himself however the champion showed that he is a top level fighter in a great display of pressure fighting.
Smith captured the title in October with a seventh round TKO of John Thompson.
