Callum Smith outworked Nieky Holzken in a harder than expected affair in Nuremberg, Germany, retaining his unbeaten record and fixing himself a place in the WBSS Final. Ringside tallies came in at fair scores of 118-110 and 117-111 (twice), with Boxing Base seeing the action 118-110. Smith now builds to 24 wins, 17 knockouts, while Holzken reduces to 13 wins, 1 defeat, 10 knockouts.
Smith looked like the superior fighter for much of the night, boxing well behind the jab, picking his shots well, and just generally looking tidy in all areas. Basically the kind of Smith we’re all used to seeing. However, while Smith’s advanced ring IQ and fundamentals did conclusively lead to victory, he was also under steady pressure throughout, particularly in the second half, which we’re definitely not used to seeing. All in all, a calculated, effective, but not entirely exciting performance from Smith.
As for Holzken, credit where it’s due, the man was both game and tenacious. The one-week’s notice underdog – who stepped in for Juergen Braehmer – was clearly in fighting shape, and did have a part to play in this fight. Holzken was never quite threatening enough to start doing damage on the scorecards, but was plenty tough, durable, and did a good job of pressuring with his feet, even catching Smith with some eye-catching power shots on occasion.
Smith now moves forward in the WBSS tournament which, right now, has an uncertain finale. George Groves’ shoulder injury – suffered last weekend en route to outboxing Chris Eubank Jr – means there’s a chance he’ll have to withdraw from that final meeting on medical grounds. If that were to happen, ol’ Eubank is apparently good and ready to step in. That would be hardly ideal for obvious reasons, but, you know, it’s a potential reality.
So, in summary, we’re approaching a WBSS final that looks like Smith vs Groves/Eubank. As for Braehmer’s run in this race, short of Eubank also becoming injured, I think we can safely assume he’s completely out of this thing. Spill your own thoughts on Callum Smith’s performance tonight and who he’ll be facing on June 2.
