Tonight, Callum Smith came of his age in his boxing career, graduating against a very tough, durable, game opponent in Christopher Rebrasse. Despite one judge turning in a dismal score of 120-107, the other two officials were perhaps a little more accurate with 118-110. Here at BoxingBase.com we had the action tallied closer at 116-111.
Smith edged the earlier rounds of the fight, but found himself under a lot of pressure from Rebrasse, as he did for the rest of the fight. The middle portion belonged to Rebrasse, who despite taking the more telling blows of the evening, still had a lot of fight to give the British favorite.
Smith (17-0, 12 KO) didn’t adapt significantly as the fight went on, but he did start to pick his shots better and make them count. This allowed him to bag the later rounds. His body attack began to finally pay off, and in the 10th, he knocked down Rebrasse with a hard shot downstairs.
But Rebrasse (23-4-3, 6 KO) climbed to his feet, and of course, started firing back. Had he possessed greater power, the result of this fight might have been different. The Frenchman had a strong final round, quite literally throwing the kitchen sink at his foe. Smith seemed content to cruise to the finish line, however, confident of victory.
The crowd at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, were certainly treated to a good all-action 12-rounder here. Smith will be geared towards even bigger fights, and Rebrasse is far from done in the sport, it has to be said. Catch Smith vs Rebrasse round by round below, and also our undercard round by round action here, featuring Rocky Fielding’s 2nd round TKO of Brian Vera.
Smith vs Rebrasse Round by Round
Round 1: Smith’s punches flowing nicely in opener. Lands tasty jabs amongst his array of accurate arsenal. Looking polished. Rebrasse also looking confident. Smith, 10-9
Round 2: Smith picking off his man with a real variety of punches here. Uppercut, jab, cross – it’s all there in his utility belt. Jab from Rebrasse. The Frenchman has come to fight. Nose bleeding now. Certainly the softer hitter of the two. Smith, 10-9 (20-18)
Round 3: Good, all-action fight here. Both men throwing, responding to registering, damaging shots. Upstairs, downstairs work. Quality operators. Rebrasse jab. Both trade center-ring. Smith digging shots hard to body on occasion. Boxing brain, indeed. Good scrap. Smith, 10-9 (30-27)
Round 4: Battle of the jabs early on. Hard, hard jabs! Rebrasse starting to sneak in greater variety of shots. Uppercut grazes. Rebrasse counters, coming forward. What balls! Rebrasse takes double left-hook well. Both fighters planting feet. No dancing here whatsoever. Smith working the body hard! Rebrasse right-hand. This is a fight! Smith edges slightly. Smith, 10-9 (40-36)
Round 5: Rebrasse undeterred by Smith’s power, comes on strong, trying to outwork him. Inspiring stuff from Rebrasse, responding to every power shot. Rebrasse pushing back his man. Smith taking it well, fighting back just as hard. A lot of leather flying here. Very competitive. Rebrasse edges round. Rebrasse, 10-9 (49-46)
Round 6: Rebrasse still coming on strong, taking heavy shots. All the time he is matching Smith’s work-rate, he is in this fight. Both men want this, and it’s a surefire test for prospect Smith. No doubts about that. Rebrasse has Smith on ropes, and is asking so many questions of the favorite. Rebrasse, 10-9 (58-56)
Round 7: Rebrasse still coming forward, very determined. Smith jabbing. More tentative for first time. Smith takes a couple of jabs. Smith on ropes, takes uppercut from Rebrasse. And another. Grins. Both men trade off center-ring. Rebrasse languishing – or perhaps just overwhelmed? – on the ropes. Smith stuns Rebrasse with body shot, but the guy just comes straight back! Rebrasse, 10-9 (67-66)
Round 8: Smith needs to change something and quick if he is to remain unbeaten in Liverpool. So far his power isn’t proving enough. Rebrasse has him on the ropes again. Lots of pressure. Answering every shot with two. Smith lands a nice right-hand. Rebrasse takes a few registering shots, but smiles. Rebrasse feeling the power now, no doubt. Hard round to score. Smith, 10-9 (77-75)
Round 9: Smith landing some head-snapping jabs, sensing the urgency now. And there is urgency it would seem. Both men trade, and Smith gets off some hard shots to the body, utilizing his lateral movement well. Still, Rebrasse continues to come forward. Rebrasse lands right-hand on the bell. Smith, 10-9 (87-84)
Round 10: Rebrasse flies out the gate and unloads on Smith on the ropes. Right-hand tags Rebrasse. The action goes center-ring. Both trading hard shots. Rebrasse goes down from body shot! Rebrasse beats count, fires back! Smith back to the body! Rebrasse landing! Smith landing! Smith all about that body! Rebrasse lands upstairs! Smith, 10-8 (97-92)
Round 11: Rebrasse still wants it here. Can Smith take him out? A lot of punches still flying. Both landing with ferocity. Smith lands heavy to pit of stomach. Again, Rebrasse just keeps coming. Smith putting his jab and cross together well now. Being made to think a lot. Smith, 10-9 (107-101)
Round 12: Rebrasse fired up, unleashes flurry. He wants it! Smith looking for accurate shots, trying to keep his distance. Both men trade on ropes. Rebrasse hitting air, takes a big right-hand! Rebrasse throwing the kitchen sink! Smith knows he has the win, is now sporting a cut cheek. Rebrasse, 10-9 (116-111)
Result: 118-110 (twice), 120-107, Smith
BoxingBase.com Scorecard: 116-111, Smith
Smith vs Rebrasse Undercard
There was quite the handful of British talent on the Smith vs Rebrasse undercard. To begin, Tommy Martin had to work hard to find his rhythm against a very game Terry Needham, but found a stoppage in the 7th round. At that time, BoxingBase.com had prospect Martin down a point due to suffering a 1st round knockdown and giving away a few too many rounds.
Next came Martin Murry who had little difficulty dispatching of George Beroshvili in his debut bout at Super Middleweight. A crunching body shot in the 2nd round was enough to get the job done.
Tony Bellew made very hard work of an over-matched – and reluctant to fight boxer – Ivica Bacurin. Bellew nonetheless got the job done eventually in the 10th round after the referee stepped in to put a halt to the contest.
Finally, before Smith vs Rebrasse got underway, Rocky Fielding made very short work of capable opponent Brian Vera. In quite brutal fashion, Fielding dropped Vera twice en route to scoring a 2nd round stoppage. The win has of course further fueled the unbeaten fighters appeal with a win that will resonate beyond UK shores.
What did you think of the Smith vs Rebrasse card? Let your thoughts out in the comments!
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