By Alexey Sukachev
Liverpool - British super middleweight contender and former national champion Paul Smith (31-2, 17 KOs) continued his comeback with a quick demolition of veteran Paul Samuels (21-10-2, 12 KOs) at 2:20 of the first stanza. Samuels was down twice before the stoppage. Next for Smith is an all-domestic clash against British and Commonwealth titleholder George Groves (13-0, 10 KOs) on Dec. 17 at Echo Arena in Liverpool.
In a stunner, lightly-regarded Celtic champion Lee Selby (11-1, 3 KOs) sensationally acquired not one but two vacant belts (BBBofC British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles) after a highlight-reel knockout of previously undefeated IBF #7 Stephen Smith (12-1, 6 KOs) with a crushing left hook to the whiskers.
Smith started fast but Selby wrestled back control of the contest in the second round. The third round was the first one for Selby to showcase his surprisingly heavy hand, when he rocked Smith with a blistering right counter. Selby continued to dominate in the fourth but the fifth stanza saw a rally-type comeback from the champion. This trend continued in the next couple of rounds as Smith overpowered Selby and beat him to the punch. It was in the eighth, when Selby regained the control once again and this time for he put Smith away for good. Referee Victor Loughlin stopped the contest at 2:04.
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Fans' favourite Rocky Fielding extended his run to 8-0 with a six rounds points win over Portsmouth's Paul Morby.
Fielding, a former Prize Fighter winner at this venue, outworked Morby over the distance.
The bigger man Fielding stepped up the pace in the fifth round, landing the heavier sharper shots on Southpaw Morby.
He hurt Morby in the sixth with a right hand and he went on the run looking to survive.
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Young Welsh light-welterweight prospect Lewis Rees took his record to two wins of out of two against Manchester's Damien Turner.
The Gary Locket trained fighter kept Turner in the corner for most of the first round, working well to the body and head with plenty of angles.
Southpaw Rees worked well in the second round, but got caught with a left hook that brought his hands back up.
More good work from Rees in the third and he hurt Turner with a body shot that just landed on the waist band.
In the fourth, Rees landed more crushing body shots mixing it up with head shots and after Turner sagged on the ropes from another attack, the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.
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Ellesmere Port's hot talent Paul Butler remains unbeaten after he beat experienced Walsall centurion Delroy Spencer on points over six rounds.
Super-flyweight Butler, last year's ABA Flyweight Champion, had a good opening round and moved well on his feet, working fast jabs, and countering with combinations.
The second saw Butler pick his shots well to head and body and moving in and out of range and switching to southpaw.
He was enjoying himself in the fourth and fifth rounds with Spencer finding it hard to cope with the speed and angles of Butler.
In the sixth, Butler cruised home to a points win to take his record to four wins.
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The youngest Smith brother on tonights card, Liam, landed a crushing body shot to stop Welshman Barrie Jones in the third round.
Trainer Joe Gallagher whipped Smith into good shape for the fight and recorded his second stoppage on the trot after his first round TKO of Matt Scriven last December.
Smith worked well putting combinations together to head and body in the first and second rounds and in the third he started doubling them up.
He hurt Jones' body and then went on the attack before landing a devastating left hook to the body to finish him off. He didn't make the referee's count.
It was a good win for Smith, who did the job quicker than former British champions Jason Cook, Craig Watson and Kell Brook.