Callum Smith vs Hassan N’Dam fight result: Liverpool boxer powers through first title defence

Liverpool boxer follows in the footsteps of his beloved football team to deliver a convincing victory to successfully defend his WBA super-middleweight title

Jack de Menezes
Sunday 02 June 2019 04:06 BST
Comments
Anthony Joshua v Andy Ruiz Weigh in at Madison Square Garden

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Callum Smith continued to strengthen his claims as one of the best super-middleweight boxers in the world with an emphatic third-round knockout of Hassan N'Dam to make a successful first defence of his WBA title.

Smith’s camp were already in a celebratory mood after watching Liverpool secure Champions League glory in their 2-0 victory over Tottenham, and the reigning world champion lived up to his end of the bargain with a dominant display in New York’s Madison Square Garden on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz Jr.

Smith never looked in trouble from the first bell, holding a noticeable size advantage over former middleweight champion N’Dam, and the Cameroonian was knocked down for the first time right at the end of the opening round.

N’Dam only just beat the count to return to his corner, but the second round brought much of the same as he once again went crashing to the canvas, only to defiantly get back to his feet and box on.

But when the inevitable third came from a thumping right, the referee had seen enough and waved off the fight to give Smith his first victory in nine months since his World Boxing Super Series triumph over George Groves.

"I had a few nerves before. Tonight was all about the performance,” Smith told Sky Sports.

"I want to stay active now and prove I’m the best super middleweight in the world."

Smith’s trainer Joe Gallagher immediately called out Canelo Alvarez, who remains the WBA’s regular champion at super-middleweight but also holds the WBA, WBC and IBF titles at middleweight, for a potential showdown at 168lb at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in