I, like your secretary's sister, have nothing better to do...Mr Smith

Sometimes it's hard not to laugh. Hypocrisy at it's best if hilarious. If you originally though what I wrote on Paul Smith was harsh, though blatantly an opinion then you may love to hear what Paul's been saying. His twitter account has been fun to read over these past few days, as has his boxingscene interview with Terry Dooley, who said in a message to someone:
“Hello chaps. Thanks for the reads. Here is the link to the article I read over the weekend. I didn't want to name the author or link in as a link in from the 'Scene is more than the guy deserves. Smith makes some good points, some will disagree with him but on a personal level he's one of the most approachable people in the game. He can't help being a Scouse! Peace. Terry PS Flint, Dunky Mac, GazOC -- wotcha chaps, miss our little debates.

http://boxingbloggingatitsoddest.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-give-you-mr-paul-smith-part-time.html”

Rather nice of Terry to see this link posted on EastSideBoxing (http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=300009&page=2)

So anyway, some how between the weekend and last night things got more funnier than ever. With Smith “fighting back” (shame he didn't do that against DeGale, I would have won a nice signed glove from a Prediction League had he won). Thanks to the boxing scene interview it was obvious who and what this snippet was about:
“Smith has never been shy in the past but there is the distinct sense that a small minority of virtual critics post their missives in order to draw attention. Last weekend's blog entry in which the “writer” went at Paul on a personal level before carrying his ire over to younger brother Stephen is an example of this trend.”

Now what Terry seems to have avoided noting in his article is several key points. First Smith was the one who got personal by decrying twitter user Ringnews24 “drunk”. Smith also mentioned “I can see tossers a mile off” (or something to that effect, prior to deleting several twitter entries) slagging off myself, ringnews24, John Simpson and trainer Billy Nelson.

Some of those were personal insults and yet fans seem fine with Paul calling people things like:

“Fat idiotic ginger” and “fat virgin”. Had he done his research he'd certainly have known he was wrong on the ginger part, the virgin and may only have actually have been right in the “fat” part. Though plenty of boxing fans did describe Paul as a “fat middleweight” on forums, so maybe that's something we have in common. A common ground to relate on.

In one Tweet Paul had a shot at both Billy Neslon and John Simpson stating “Simpson hasn't improved since before Stephen. Nelson trained NO ONE from scratch. Over rated.”. If he wants to have a go at boxing personalities then fair enough, though that was well before my article which seemed to kick up some ruckus. In December of 2010 he also called Olympic gold medal winner James DeGale “an idiot”. Though it's not just boxing personalities he takes his frustration out on, but the fans on forums. The following quotes are just posts from EastSideBoxing where Paul used to post.

“Big Dunk” said that Paul said “said everyone that posts on here is scum. vermin that no nothing about boxing.” (regarding ESB's users) (though user Boro Chris seems to believe the actual term was “Degenerate scum was the charming phrase he used I think.”, which says it all)

“Troy” posted “smiths been scratching about forever at domestic level,its plain to see hes going nowhere,and on top of that hes a dickhead.”

“Grant1” posted “If Smith talked **** on there before the fight he should have manned up and got back on there.

If he didn't want to post anymore that's fine, but at least go on there and say 'I was wrong. I won't be posting anymore'.

He looks like a big girl to 99% of people with the way he's handled it.”

“Gemmell100” posted “I used to give smigga big time abuse on boxrec, he used to take things personally, i remember he used to talk **** about destroying degale and groves the guy is a piece of turd, **** boring boxer” the same user also added “It's not that bomber it is the fact i would say degale will win easily(which he did) and smith turned around and tried giving me personal abuse”

efc85 posted “Its his attitude that i dont like. Also his refusal to give degale any credit, saying things like "hes not that good", after degale had just punched his head in. What a clown”

Another one from “Big Dunk” “To everyone defending Paul Smith, I don't think you have actually read his posts on boxrec. He is simular to a nutjob style poster. say anything slightly negative agaisnt him, or even disagree with him on a non paul smith related subject and he starts swearing, calling names...what have you ever done in boxing etc.

the guy is a twat”

Who also added
“i used to like Paul Smith. Then one time he attacked me for no reason. said everything I said was complete bull**** etc.

So I asked him to tell me what i have said about him or what comment he was paticuarly annoyed about because i was genuinley baffled as i have never said anything harsh agaisnt him i always liked him.

His response was "you scored the fight to Quigley"

100% thats what he said to me lol. I asked why thats such a problem plenty of people has quigley winning and he then started swearing and slagging me off.

everyone knows i rate his brother as one of my top prospects in the country. always talking him up.

His issue with ESB came from reading the Quigley & Dodson Round by rounds (they dont have many RBR's on boxrec) where he didn't perform out of this world. some of the comments could have been deemed harsh and many scored the quigley fight to quigley. thats why he thinks everyone on ESB is scum.”

From “lp1985” is this “must admit he didnt take critiscm to good, remember some1 posted the link from boxrec on here and he was slating every1 on here.”

“9Ball” posted this “ Bomber has had some harsh treatment and normally he is able to just say ' ok mate, your opinion. pity smigga cant do the same. Maybe he has anger issues lol”

Whilst these are quotes from Paul on Boxrec's forum:

“You're starting to show your true, arsehole like colours that you've displayed on esb for a long time now.” (talking about poster/user Rob Palmer)

Finally finding the quote on ESB (see above) what Paul actually said was
“It's a ****hole, full of degenerates and should be hacked and turned into a forum for equestrian enthusiasts.”

Staying on the ESB subject “Now I can take stick, from the best of them. What I believe, though, is that you shouldn't insult someone behind a screen when you wouldn't dare say it to their face. That's what eastside is full of. People who love slagging fighters off for the sake of it with stupid playground name calling.”

On his loss to Steve Bendall:
“As for the loss to the faded Bendall - ask anyone who saw it who they thought should have got the decision. It was a terrible performance, weight drained and way below par but I won at least 7 rounds! That's being generous.” Funny that he's now going back to middleweight over 2 ½ years after that loss.

And finally one more great Smith quote from Boxrec “Hang on, I've got thick skin. I can give it as well as take it that's my point - some people can't.” Proof of the pudding seems to show he lacks that thick skin.

For a man with thick skin and who doesn't like personal insults, he's always been more than happy to use them. Whether your a fan or not he's shown that he's more than happy to engage in “the play ground” stuff.

The Boxingscene interview can be found here:

http://www.boxingscene.com/paul-smith-aiming-let-his-fists-talking--37566

Finally a couple of his newest twitter posts directed towards me:
“ha! Writing a complaint email to frankwarren.tv about me rubbishing ur **** site! What did u expect? FW to put me over his knee?!”

To correct him, that wasn't me, I'd have sent it with my name on. I do know who sent it and it certainly wasn't me.

“Cage well and truly rattled. Haha. FYI - Your blog on me has 42 typos. My secretary's sister counted them last night.”

Your secretary's sister needs better things to do. Though thank you very much for the additional publicity. And I'm not sure where you feel my cage has been rattled. It's YOU who deleted what YOU said, I've left my comments on the web for all to see.

When my comments apparently "carried ire over to his brother Stephen" I was merely backing John Simpson, a guy who used I to live near to and have been a long term fan of. This supposed "ire" can be read here Smith v Simpson II-The Rematch (really isn't much ire there aimed at Stephen).

So to finish (well for now)...thank you for your time Paul even if you are wasting it. I do think you've taken it all too personally, though that seems to be a trend with yourself. That thick skin really doesn't seem to exist. And again thank you for all the publicity.

When a 20-0 (15) fighter v an 18-0 (17) fighter is a bad fight

Sometimes in boxing you look too much at raw numbers and decide that a fight will be good or bad just on that. One such case is taking place on April 1^st when Selcuk Aydin 20-0 (15) faces Dzmitry Lubachkin 18-0 (17). Should be good right? 2 Unbeaten, hard hitting punchers facing off in a fight that should mean a lot to both men, however it's not that simple.

Aydin, although lucky to defeat Canada based Romanian Jo Jo Dan last year is the WBC #1 contender, he holds the “Silver title” and is owed a fight with Andre Berto. In fact Aydin has every right to feel aggrieved that Victor Ortiz is next up for Berto in a HBO decided clash. Aydin is currently ranked #15 by Boxrec.com and #9 by the IBO, although not an elite fighter he's a good one, a powerful one and one that can really hurt his opponents. Although he has stamina issues (as shown against Dan) and lacks the technical skills and speed to be world class he's a very good fighter. A good fighter, but not a great fighter. Aydins last 7 wins have come against solid looking opponents with decent records. Jo Jo Dan was 26-0, Jackson Osei Bonsu was 30-2, Said Ouali was 25-2, Luis Hernandez was 23-2, Marat Khuzeev was 17-3-1, Lucky Lewele 25-4 and Farhad Bakirov 24-2-2. Those 7 opponents gave Aydin 56 rounds combined.

Lubachkin is someone we don't know much about. Back in February I actually wrote about him for this very blog. So lets just copy the raw numbers from that:

He has faced 13 debutants
He has never faced a fighter who was better than 1-1-1 (his 14^th opponent- Aliaksandr Kuryanovich)
His opponents have a combined 1 win amongst them
The combined record of his 18 opponents have a record of 1-6-2

Now some more additional facts. Lubachkin has had 29 rounds recorded as a professional (Aydin has had 33 rounds in his 3 fights). Of those 29 rounds 10 came against debutant Siarhei Shoba in Lubachkin's 5^th professional fight, the only one to have gone the distance. 4 of Lubachkin's first 6 fights haven't been fully recorded on boxrec.com, the site aren't sure of which round the fights were won in. Of the completely recorded fights on his record only Iliya Koltun has managed go more than 2 rounds(not including Shoba) with 9 fighters failing to make the 2^nd round.

Aydin has more fights than the combined total of Lubachkin's opponents, he has more than twice as many rounds and the only thing Lubachkin has more of are KO's. On paper Lubachkin is the power puncher but when he faces Aydin it'll be obvious that the padded record will do the Belarussian no favours. Expect Aydin to stop Lubachkin whenever he wants.

Note-Lubachkin is a Light Middleweight whilst Aydin has been fighting at Welterweight, regardless Aydin will win with ease. The Turkish fighter is a big Welterweight and will only be giving away around an inch in height.

I give you Mr Paul Smith, part time boxer, part time English teacher

Sometimes as a writer it's fun to communicate with people that you write about. I've often enjoyed the brilliance of Twitter for such activities, of course my Ringnews24 piece “Audley Harrison The Mighty Twitter Warrior” is one of the most fun and amusing pieces I've done. Though sometimes you realise your opinion on someone flips 180 after talking to them for a while. They go from being someone you were behind to someone you want to see fail. A recent series of conversations with British boxer Paul Smith has been one of those cases.

Smith, from Liverpool, has a record of 29-2 (15) and I'd actually been behind him from when I first heard about him. His appearance on “The Contender” was short lived though he had shown his heart and was exciting, it further concreted my feelings that he was one to keep an eye on. Brave, hard working and the type of fighter that is genuinely good to watch. Though his actions after a fight last year in which his brother took a controversial decision against Scottish fighter John Simpson raised some questions about him. He acted like a bit of a tit to be frank. Though I gave him a pass, his brother had just won the biggest fight of his career in front of a pro-Scottish crowd and it was a reason to be emotional. My support was right behind him when he faced James DeGale, I actually backed him on all the PL's I was a part of and really wanted him to shut DeGale up. He had talked the talk going into the fight, seemed confident and was far more experienced than DeGale. Then it became obvious that he didn't deserve to be in the ring with DeGale. Smith took a 29-1 record into that fight against the 8-0 DeGale, it was a shock however that DeGale just abused him in the ring. It wasn't that DeGale was just quicker and more skilled, but he was stronger, his shots left more of an effect. It was Smith that was made to look like the rank novice.

Since the loss to DeGale Smith has been out of the ring, that's 3 months with out a fight and with none lined up we're unsure when he will be making a return. Maybe DeGale did more than just beat him in the ring but broke his fighting spirit. Maybe it was just a beating but quite possibly more. Smith was toyed with in front of his own fans in Liverpool and it must have been embarrassing to be handled so easily by a novice pro.

When asked recently by Ringnews24.com over twitter as to whether he would want to do an interview he showed the nasty arrogant side, the side that had been shown in Glasgow when his his brother “robbed” John Simpson. He failed to actually say “no” and instead accused the sites admin of being a drunk before going on to give “English lessons” over twitter, correcting grammar, which actually went down to pointing out a space before a comma is wrong. We can see from the twitter conversation excerpts below just silly Paul's lessons got:

“you don't leave spaces before commas , like that. Also CAPITALS help. Yet another whopper with a laptop posing as a writer.”

-We can see the irony here, no capital to start the sentence whilst capitals appear as a point of emphasis in the middle of a sentence. Mr. Smith, this isn't correct, you should know this.

“If you think your grammar is correct, and you expect people to read your site/articles then you're madder than I first thought!”

-Again pointing out grammar errors over twitter seems pointless but lets see his 3^rd point regardless.

“drink & debate don't mix. Especially when you expect people to take your opinion seriously! We'll see come April 27th. And NEW!”

-Again the irony of capitals Mr. Smith. It should be a capital “D” for “drink”, the “And” is a conjunction so there is no need for the full stop or the capital and “NEW!” should be “new!”. See this is easy.

But hey lets carry on this lesson, I'm starting to feel intelligent correcting someone else grammar.

“advertising on what exactly? Vie got more followers than that site itself! It's hardly popular. Like I said, wannabe writers.”

Again Mr. Smith, come on, get your capitals right. Also what is “Vie”? You may indeed have more followers than a site though that would probably come down to you being more famous than a fledgling site. Is twitter a popularity contest?

“as for PR if that's kidding the bollocks off loyal fans and sugar coating things then yes, it's not my strong point.”

Again missing the capital. Though this was in reply to his reaction when asked about an interview in which he was going to be able to express his opinion and tell boxing fans what he's been up to since the loss to DeGale and what fans were to expect from his return. If he honestly feels that's sugar coating, then it's a shame that he's taken so many to the head that he's showing signs of brain damage or lack of comprehension skills.

Anyway with this done I'd like to wish John Simpson all the best in knocking Stephen Smith out on April 27 live on Sky Sports 1. It's time the record was set straight and this time with out the controversial decision that marred their first fight. Better yet, like when DeGale beat Paul, this will be in front of more Liverpudlians at the Olympia.

As is obvious the above is all opinion and I'm not an actual doctor. I have the opinion that if someone thinks an interview is "sugar coating" then their is something wrong with them. I am entitled to such an opinion, just like someone is entitled to the opinion that I am a "wanker", that the Ringnews24.com staff member was a "drunk".

EDIT:
A new post by Mr. Smith
"Gotta love when people print lies about you too and try and twist the truth. More to the point, you gotta love libel cases!"

He can try the libel case but I never actually lied, again it's a statement of "opinion", if he doesn't understand this then thats his problem, not mine. Though thank you paul for the free publicity. As are his claims of "drunk" and "wanker", obviously Mr. Smith loves irony.


Edit part 2:
Paul recently tweeted:
" My opinion is that God exists, Diana was murdered and Aliens exist - but that doesn't make them FACTS. Your Scott is a liar..."

Now again this is a "fair comment", this doesn't make him a liar, and neither does my opinion that if he doesn't understand being asked to do an interview isn't sugar coating things. Maybe I will change my opinion to him actually showing signs of that damage, rather than just insulting his intelligence. Anyone who believes that Diana was murdered is a bit weird anyway...;-)

Final edit:
I recently found an article with a quote from Smith in which he called James DeGale an idiot, seems rather apt that he's happy to throw around insults but if others do it he threatens legal action with no foot to stand on. Also my preview on Stephen Smith v Jon Simpson II is now on hubpages.

Boxings activity man

Boxers in this day and age often get an awful lot of stick from fans for not fighting often enough. Of course most fighters at world level fight only twice, maybe thrice, a year at a push or if you're Floyd Mayweather you fight maybe once a year in the ring and twice a year outside of it. Though it's time to give a little bit of respect to probably the most hard working “championship level” fighter around at the moment. 28 year old Ramon Garcia Hirales may not be a fighter you're familiar with, his record of 15-2-1 (8) doesn't look like he's been a particularly busy fighter, especially not when you realise he's been professional since 2007.

Since July last year when Hirales fought Filipino fighter Johnriel Casimero for the Interim WBO Light Flyweight title and won a close split decision he has suddenly become super active. He would defend that title twice in just 5 months with his 3^rd defence coming in February of this year. Although Hirales would lose that fight by being controversially out pointed by Jesus Geles and losing a split decision he's preparing for a rematch that is set to be fought in April, yes just 2 months after losing his title. This will be Hirales' 5^th fight in just over 7 months, all of which have been for the Interim WBO Light Flyweight title. The hectic schedule of Hirales may well cut his career shorter than it should be, though for fight fans this is what the sport needs more of. Instead of fighters like David Haye fighting as little as once every 12 months we need more Ramon Garcia Hirales'.

An Argentine with no power? :-O

This coming Saturday sees everyone's favourite light punching Argentinian Light Welterweight fighting for the 42^nd time in a career spanning back over 8 years. That's right Cesar Rene Cuenca, the man nicknamed “El Distinto” returns to the ring after 7 months out. Cuenca's record looks impressive at 39-0-0-2 though you look deeper and you notice he's fought a lot of nobodies, in fact he's fought a lot of nobodies several times. His most impressive facet though is his KO success, he has scored just 1 KO in his 39 results (he's had 2 No Contests due to head clashes).

Cuenca, currently the #3 ranked Argentinian at the weight according to Boxrec.com is the WBO #2 and the WBC #10 ranked fighter and his up coming fight comes against a giant test in the form of Juan Jose Dias . Dias has the impressive record of 11-10-4 (2) and has only been stopped once in his career so it's fair to assume that he should be going the distance against Cuenca.

Although Cuenca has faced some moderate opponents with semi-decent records the problem is that their records are just generally more padded than Cuenca who really shouldn't have a top 15 ranking with any body. Hopefully the light punching Argentinian ends up being pushed into a fight with one of his fellow countrymen who hit much harder (Marcos Maidana or Lucas Matthysse would be nice) though sadly theirs nothing in it for them when they have title aspirations compared with Cuenca's somewhat yellow streak.

If you love Paulie Malignaggi you'll love Cesar Cuenca!

Audley Harrison-Twitter Warrior!

A recent newspaper reported Audley Harrison claiming he would “prove doubters wrong”, and now, the 39 year old Harrison, seems to be on the warpath. Yes this is the same A-Farce we all love to hate, the problem is that his war path isn't on the heavyweight division but instead on the world of Twitter where Audley, presumably feeling safe is happy to swing his shots. He seems to throw more verbal jabs over the site than he did at David Haye.

The ever confident Gold Medal winner has come out with some of those lines you know only he could ever come out with. When asked whether or not he still believes he'll be a world champion he replied with “Long way, but a few good wins and I'm back in the huntRT”. A possible early contender for under-statement of the year. “:Long way”? I'm nearer having a threesome with Kelly Brook and Briana Frost than Audley is from ever winning a world title. A “few good wins”? Has Audley ever actually had what we'd consider a good win? His best victories are against British standard heavyweights in Williams and Sprott, both of whom have already beaten him anyway. Although a lot of people want to downplay the Klitschko's they spar with Sprott and Vitali famously beat Williams senseless well before Audley faced him. If the A-Farce wants a good win what about guys like Povetkin? Arreola? Chagaev? The talk is that he will face a British fighter, in fact he's called out Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora, more British level fighters.

The Olympic Gold Medal winner has also recently come out with this. “Listen, all the big talking wanabee bad boys on here, don't watch me. I'm all good. My life is gravy, no complaints. Can you say the same ?” He doesn't seem to have any idea most fight fans watch him to see him layed out on the canvas all over again and hopefully retire. We thought Danny Williams would have embarrassed him into retirement, then we were sure Michael Sprott had done the job, then hoped Martin Rogan had managed it. We've realised he's not going away until someone literally gives him brain damage, sadly I'm not to sure he'd realise it. In a fair honest retort:

“Listen, you big talking boxing wannabee bad boy, don't call yourself a fighter when your not willing to fight. My life is pretty good, can't complain and I'm sure many others can say the same”.

When a “fan” asked “For your fans, why should we still follow you?” Audley retorted with “If your a fan, I don't need to answer that” almost expecting the blind followers to keep following him. It was as if the blind man expects people to be as stupid as he himself seems. Is it impossible for poor Audley to realise weren't all delusional fools? He's giving people no reason, in or out of the ring, to remain fans. He needs to grow up, this is a man who's been a pro for 10 years but has done nothing of note.

A protective fan was kind enough to offer this “Have you got keyboard gangsters on your case?? Bless the clueless bastards.” Sadly the “clueless bastards” are the those following the A-Farce despite the let down, the talk and the repeated failure. Though as Audley said “A wise man once said ' if they are writing about you, they are thinking about you, if they are thinking about you, they are dreaming about you' can u imagine :)” can you imagine some of the things I must be dreaming about? A nude Marco Antonio Periban for a start (actually...). Shame I find it hard to dream and write things because, believe it or not, I get paid! Well done Audley, I'll mis-quote a very wise man myself “I write, therefore I am” (long live Descartes).

Sorry for the language with this one but....well it's Audley's fault “When my day comes to shit, I mean quit :) I promise to let u know”. Shame he's been shit for the past decade and he's certainly let us know about it, repeatedly. If he quit I'd rather he just faded off into obscurity rather than announced it to the world. He's resorted to throwing personal insults “I'm joking butt head” though this is nothing of a surprise, he needs to throw something, sure as hell didn't throw anything at David Haye in November.

Before leaving Audley alone (I didn't want to catch whatever mental problem he has) I saw this gem. “Fact: I don't give a flying f..k what people say. Fact: I fought Michael Sprout for 8 rounds with one ARM, do you not think I would have found a way to come back: fact: I should of got asking out on a stretcher, its for the world title”. Now I understand the start of that. Yes yes he fought a 35 year old journeyman who had gone 2-4 in his last 6 one handed, well we say fought he didn't really fight but that's a technicality. Though the second part I have no idea about, is he saying he should have had to go out on a stretcher against Haye? If so it's probably a shame the referee did save his life.

Anyway thank you Mr Harrison. Been nice to vent after Man United's garbage first half, not quite as bad as your beloved Arsenals though I guess. Stay on Twitter, your more active on there than you ever were in the ring.

Old men tussle

Some fighters just don't know when to call it a day one such man is former world heavyweight title holder Oliver McCall. The Atomic Bull, now a month shy of turning 46, and 14 years since he lost the WBC title to Lennox Lewis in that infamous bout that saw him break mentally in front of the worlds eyes is appearing once again in the ring. On Friday night Oliver McCall will face the once beaten Cedric Boswell in a fight for the vacant NABA Heavyweight title at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. Boswell (33-1) is himself 41 and was originally scheduled to face Bert Cooper, who like McCall is 45.

Whilst I personally have nothing against older fighters carrying on if they are either fighting completely meaningless fights, for example those that were had by Hassan Chitsaz against relative nobodies. The fighters that are “older” and still able to compete with the best are also fine, fighters like Bernard Hopkins, Vitali Klitschko and fighters of a similar ilk are completely fine, they take care of themselves and also don't take a great deal of damage in the ring. Though when 2 fighters are getting US TV exposure with a combined age of 86 and are neither going places nor particularly worth watching I can't really see the point of it all.

The “old” heavyweights appear to be out in force this year though with Evander Holyfield, Ray Austin, Antonio Tarver, James Toney, Hasim Rahman, Shannon Briggs, Lance Whittaker, Rob Calloway and several others all ranked by Boxrec.com in the top 100 American heavyweights. I've written in the past about the lack of American heavyweights who are young and breaking through, it doesn't help that the older guys won't go away. Until something major happens the future looks as bleak as the past has been for the big Americans, those that want to complain the division is dead only need to look at fights like this one.