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nick parkinson
Dalton Smith stopped Jose Zepeda with a brutal body shot in the fifth round on Saturday in Sheffield, England, moving one step closer to a more prominent fight at the junior welterweight level.
The British fighter landed a clinical finish to the body in front of his hometown fans at the Sheffield Arena. This was an impressive knockout victory over a three-time world title challenger and the best moment of Smith's career, vaulting him into the class of legitimate contenders at 140 pounds.
“A lot of people thought this game was too early for me, so I trained harder and tonight I was able to show where I belong,” Smith said. “I was hitting him with some clean shots and he went for an uppercut and I knew I could hurt him.”
For Zepeda, the loss was a further blow to his hopes of competing for a world title again. With three losses in world title fights and three losses in his last four fights overall, Zepeda's career is trending in the wrong direction.
Going the other way is Smith, who completes Zepeda with a right hand to the solar plexus. Smith still has a long way to go before he can challenge the elite junior welterweight ranks of Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez, but with this win he takes a big step towards world title contention. First, Smith is targeting 22-year-old European champion Adam Azim (11-0, 8 KOs), also from England.
Smith said: “I won't say too many names, but Adim Azim, where are you? I'm sure he'll give that title back. I respect him, but the European title is what I want.'' ” he said.
Smith (16-0, 12 KOs) has previously fought at the domestic level, making his third defense of the British junior welterweight title in his last bout.
Zepeda (37-5, 28 KOs), of La Puente, Calif., was the highest-ranked opponent Smith has faced, and the southpaw got off to a strong start.
Zepeda, 34, landed a great left hand in the second while Smith struggled to impose himself. However, Smith settled down in the third round and chose his shots well, landing Zepeda with a two-punch combination.
The 27-year-old Smith boxed well, using a jab and catching Zepeda with a right hook in the fourth, rocking Zepeda with a right uppercut in the fifth and finishing with a body shot.
Zepeda's last outing in Britain ended in disaster as he dislocated his shoulder in his world lightweight title fight against Terry Flanagan and had to retire at the end of the second round. Although he held out long against Smith, the fight once again ended in pain for him and he was counted out on his knees.
Smith is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Kell Brook, Naseem Hamed, Clinton Woods, Junior Witter and Johnny Nelson to become the next boxing world champion from Sheffield. There's still a long way to go, but Smith is exploring the role and is bringing with him a big following.
Ryan defends welterweight title with stylish win
Sandy Ryan dominated British rival Terry Harper in four rounds in the second defense of his WBO world welterweight title in Sheffield.
Ryan's best performance to date was as he bullied Harper, a two-division world champion, from the opening bell until Harper's corner dragged him from the match at the end of the fourth round.
Ryan (7-1-1, 3 KOs), a 30-year-old native of Derby, England and now based in Las Vegas, was held to a split points draw with American Jessica McCaskill in a world title unification bout in September, and previously , he said he would like to acquire it. rematch. But McCaskill (12-4-1, 5 KOs), a 39-year-old from Chicago who will make his first defense of the WBA belt against Lauren Price on May 11, has other options for Ryan.
“The WBC belt is open, Natasha Jonas, Chantel Cameron, we can have a big fight in the women's division,” Ryan said.
Harper, a 27-year-old from Doncaster, England, also did not compete in her previous bout, which she drew with former world welterweight champion Cecilia Blakes in October.
Ryan got off to an aggressive start, landed heavy punches and maintained a high work rate. At the end of the second round, Ryan scored a chopping right and Harper already looked like he was in danger.
In the third round, Ryan again started attacking late and Harper had no choice but to hang on. A right hook bothered Harper late in the third round, but Harper took more punishment in the fourth round, with Ryan finishing the round with a straight right through the guard.
Three consecutive punches at the end of the fourth forced Harper's corner to retire the fighter.
Harper has moved up and down the weight classes to compete. She won the junior lightweight and junior middleweight titles and moved down her weight class to face Ryan. But she never looked comfortable, and she was never strong enough to compete with the razor-sharp Ryan.
