Sunday 5 June 2016 00:14, UK
Liam Smith needed less than two rounds to stop Predrag Radosevic and retain his WBO super-welterweight title in front of his home fans at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.
The crowd were on their feet ahead of the bout as ten bells rang out in tribute to the life of the late Muhammad Ali, who passed away at the age of 74. Chants of 'Ali Bomaye' filled the Echo Arena in memory of the three-time heavyweight champion who once famously said 'You ain't no fool if you from Liverpool'.
Smith was making the second defence of the belt he won after beating John Thompson last October but it was the first in front of his home fans and the 27-year-old did not disappoint.
He looked polished in the opening round as he went about his work methodically. And midway through round two, Smith backed his opponent into the corner before landing a crunching left hook to the body, leaving Radosevic on his knees.
The Montenegrin fighter was unable to beat the count as he suffered just the second stoppage defeat of his 32-fight career.
Earlier in the evening, Thomas Staker, who captained the GB boxing team at the London 2012 Olympics, outpointed Portugal's Antonio Joao Bento to become the new European lightweight champion.
Liverpool-based South African Zolani Tete retained his IBF International bantamweight title with a TKO win over Mexican Victor Ruiz, but there was disappointment for local fighter Ryan Farrag. The 28-year-old lost his European bantamweight title after being stopped by Frenchman Karim Guerfi in the third round of their contest.
