SMITH BATTLES PAST RYDER IN LIVERPOOL HOMECOMING

12 x 3 mins WBA World, WBC Diamond & Ring Magazine Super-Middleweight Titles

CALLUM SMITH WUD12 (116-112, 117-111, 116-112) v JOHN RYDER

Callum Smith successfully defended WBA ‘super’ Super-Middleweight World title for a second time with a hard-fought 117-111, 116-112, 116-112 victory in his homecoming fight but was pushed all the way by mandatory challenger John Ryder.

Smith, who was fighting as a World Champion for the first time in Liverpool, put his lacklustre performance down to a lack of fear of Ryder, who was a massive underdog heading into the fight, giving away both height and reach.

“I want the best names in the division and I’m not disrespecting John Ryder but there was no fear tonight,” Smith told Sky Sports afterwards.

“I didn’t believe John Ryder was good enough to beat me. There are fighters that I believe are good enough to beat me that don’t perform and that’s going to bring out the best in me. That’s what I want, I want the big names.

“I just want a big name, where if I turn up like tonight I’ll lose. That fear brings out the best performance in me, I feel I need that.”

“I thought that was harsh,” said Ryder. “I thought I forced the fight, he was just nicking rounds, if that. I thought I done enough to win that.

“I’ve lost for the British title three times, I’ve come back and fought for a world title against the world No 1. I think I’ve done more than enough to show I’m credible for this and I will come again.”