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.

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.