By Terence Dooley
Liverpool's Stephen Smith hopes to use his April 27th showdown against British featherweight holder John Simpson to showcase the full extent of his boxing ability. 'Swifty' won the Commonwealth belt back in September by out-pointing Simpson on the Scot's own turf yet the split-decision win left more questions than answers after Smith broke his left hand early in the contest and failed to shine over the course of the encounter.
Simpson bounced back by handing Belfast's Martin Lindsey his first professional defeat in December courtesy of yet another impressive away performance – Simpson is 6-3 in title fights outside his native Scotland. Indeed, Billy Nelson, who trains Greenock's finest, believes that John is starting to show his full range of talents and will prove too tough for Smith.
However, the Liverpudlian has made a few changes himself: the troublesome left hand has been worked on, he has digested the lessons of his first big pro title night and also switched gyms over Christmas. The move to Joe Gallagher's CNP-sponsored base initially came about through necessity. Smith's previous trainer, George Vaughan, was in the midst of opening the new Vaughan Camp when Frank Maloney announced the Olympia, Liverpool dual title duel. Consequently, the 2006 Commonwealth gold medallist headed over to Gallagher's Gym to prepare.
“Obviously [older brother] Paul [Smith] moved over here. I came over to try it out and my mind was made up to stay here after the first training session. I've got quality all around me – I am sparring with John Murray, Anthony Crolla and Joe Murray – so that was a big thing when making my decision,” revealed Smith.
“I trained myself over Christmas anyway because the Vaughans were getting the gym redone so I came here to do a bit and it opened my eyes from day one. I knew it would be beneficial for me. I've got a lot of thanks to give to George because the Vaughans have done great for me in the past but this is where I'll build for my future.
“It is great here. I feel really good and it is good that I've recently seen Crolla bring the British title home because it is nice to see that belt up close as I go into this fight. It is like a trend in the gym at the moment, almost everyone has got a belt and the guys without titles will soon be back in for them.”
Smith's arrival has gone a long way to quashing the theory that Gallagher is trying to manoeuvre his fighters away from tough fights. Smith came to his new surroundings with the Simpson fight already on the table. Many fans think that Simpson has the beating of the younger man; the result of the first fight would suggest that this one is a genuine fifty-fifty clash; therefore the fact that Gallagher welcomed Smith with open arms suggests that he is up for the challenges ahead. Smith has no doubts at all about Joe's willingness to take a risk.
“Every time you come in Joe is watching potential future opponents as well as our current opponents so I just want to return that effort and give him one hundred percent. If I do that then I'll keep on improving. When I beat Simpson with an impressive performance it will be a result for the man himself to enjoy. A reward for his game plan and hard work, it will pay off,” he opined.
“I love it here. I'm learning every day, defensively as well offensively, and couldn't ask for more from the coaching and sparring. The amount of effort Joe puts in alone is good for me. We work on little technical things that will be used when I fight Simpson.”
As we talked, the former ABA champion showed me the scar on his left hand, telling me that the injury accounted for his problems in the first showdown with Simpson. “Yeah”, he said when asked if the injury lay-off was a big setback, “but I'd rather have this happen early in my career rather than win a load of fights and get put out with this injury when I'm headed for the world stage.”
He added, “I was hoping to go in against Martin Lindsay for his British title but my injury allowed John Simpson to step in and win the belt. I think I fully deserve this opportunity and will put things right by proving that I'm better than John Simpson and winning the British. I believe the last fight was close because of the injury. I boxed for eight rounds with it so the people who say it was too close should think about that because I know what I went through on the night. Fully fit, with two hands, there is no way in the world he beats me.
“Most fighters would have spewed it after getting the injury. You're in with a tough guy and you've lost your jab but I couldn't let him walk me down so I tried some hooks with the right hand behind it and was falling in, getting caught up with him. It made me ask questions of myself. I learned that I've got the good habit of pulling a win out of the bag when things aren't going perfect for me. You've got to pick the positives, I didn't lose with one bad hand and now know you'll have to produce something special to beat me.”
Fighting an accomplished fighter such as John after only ten fights, six by stoppage, was a big ask. Although the 11-0 (6) boxer feels that Simpson did not show him anything new on the night. “I noticed the difference in level from what I've been in with so far as a pro. I learned things about myself and answered a lot of my own questions,” he admitted before turning his attention to the Lindsay-Simpson fight.
“You can only do what your opponent lets you do. Simpson threw around 900 punches in that one but all this stuff from Billy Nelson about how much John's improved is something we've heard before. I was up in Glasgow for the press conference for our last fight. Billy was telling me that Simpson was with him and had stopped three fighters in his last three fights. Billy was saying he was a different fighter. Then I go out there and beat him with one hand. Billy waits until he's fought again and says that John has only just gone over to him and has improved – I take everything Billy says with a pinch of salt.
“John is John, Billy won't change him. He comes forward, is compact and throws a lot of shots but he will only do what I allow him to do, he's getting out-boxed. When he's out of range he can throw what he likes but they won't be landing and won't be scoring.”
John's stellar away record is coupled with a perfect rematch ratio. Simpson has never lost a return, in fact he improved over the course of his trilogy with Andy Morris and stopped Paul Truscott far more conclusively second time around. Smith, though, shrugged off these pre-fight omens.
“I don't hold any fears about his record on the road or in returns,” he insisted. “His away record is good but he's still lost a few title fights on the road, he'll be losing this one as well. I can turn around and say that I've never been beaten in Liverpool but what does that mean for this fight? I am an unbeaten fighter, of course my record is good both home and away.
“When the going gets tough I'll have all those Scousers behind me cheering me on, that will give me a lift, which is something he had in Glasgow and it still didn't help him. He couldn't beat me at home and won't do it in Liverpool.”
Both men are ranked highly by the EBU – Smith is #3 and Simpson #4 – and the winner will be expected to move onto bigger things. Stephen, however, hopes to win the Lonsdale belt outright, learning his trade before mixing it with the European elite.
“I'll win and both belts, definitely,” predicted Smith. “I can either defend them both or one after another. I can go into my next fight as a voluntary and I've got no plans of giving either belt away. I want to defend the British three times so I can keep the Lonsdale belt. I'm also ranked highly in Europe and there are more belts to be taken in the future. But I'm not thinking of anything apart from beating Simpson.”
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