By Terence Dooley
Paul Smith defends his British super-middleweight title against James DeGale at Liverpool's ECHO Arena on December the 11th in a must-win showdown that could see the winner moved towards world title contention. London's DeGale believes that he is on the fast-track to world domination; Smith, from Liverpool, feels that he has earned his stripes and hopes for a shot at either WBA boss Dimitri Sartison or WBC holder Robert Stieglitz; both men are confident of victory yet have refrained from any trash talk during the preliminaries.
'Smigga' has been given the backing of two of Liverpool FC's biggest names, with club captain Steven Gerrard confirming that both he and Jamie Carragher are picking Smith to prevail come the night. “I'm a big boxing fan,” said Gerrard when speaking to Liverpool's Radio City 96.7 FM.
“I've seen Paul fight plenty of times and he has the tools to beat James DeGale. We keep in touch and he's a big supporter of me on the football side so the least I can do is support him when his fights come around and give him the support of Liverpool football club.
“I know that [fellow Liverpool player] Jamie [Carragher] supports Paul and being two local lads there's nothing we'd like more than seeing him win this fight against James DeGale. I might not be able to get there [due to playing commitments] but we will see what we can do to get back for it and will try and catch it on the TV. But Paul knows that we're there for him and support him. I've got a couple of relations who tried amateur boxing but I just like watching it and am a big fan of the local boxers like Paul and his brothers.”
Smith, 29-1 (15), won the title by out-muscling Tony Quigley last October and has since successfully defended against local rival Tony Dodson; he laughed off joke suggestions that should he enlist Gerrard as a sparring partner ahead of the fight.
“He offered me a spar before but he's too big for me so I'll give it a miss,” smiled Smith, who revealed that he gets a buzz from meeting his footballing idols. “I've met a lot of famous boxers but the only person who made me starstruck was Michael Owen.
“It is weird but I was talking to [younger brother] Stephen the other day and he said that he could have Mayweather or Manny in a room but he'd want to talk to Stephen Gerrard. They are people who are down to earth and appeals to you, that is why Ricky Hatton was loved so much.”
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