Liam Smith stops Jason Welborn
British and Commonwealth light middleweight champion Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith (17-0-1) kept his British belt by stopping Tividale’s Jason Welborn (15-2) in the fourth round.
After Smith edged a cagey first, Welborn boxed clever in the second, catching Smith from the back foot. It was developing into a tasty fight, with some tidy looking combination punching from Welborn catching the eye, if not giving Smith that much trouble.
The fourth round got interesting after Welborn leaned in with his head. Smith returned the compliment with a low blow, which put Welborn on the canvas for a good 20 seconds. Referee Howard John Foster gave him a further minute to recover, and from then on, Smith patiently sought his opportunity, slowly increasing the pressure on Welborn, who wasn’t able to recover from a vicious left hook to the body and was counted out after 36 seconds into the sixth round.