Turning a Roadblock into a Hurdle.

Some fights in a boxer’s career symbolize crucial turning points and they’re importance is not always evident beforehand. Many a valued prospect with a great deal of potential has been gunned down by a journeyman who has been looked at as just another stepping-stone by the fighter and his handlers. Sometimes the journeyman, usually packing a good deal of experience and the advantage of having nothing to lose, can raise his game and impose his will upon the less seasoned prospect. Rob Burton is just such a journeyman and must be considered highly dangerous by middleweight Paul Smith. The two are set to meet in Manchester this weekend and at stake is something more important than a title belt. It’s Smith’s future.

Don’t miss this exclusive interview with Paul Smith, one of England’s most exciting middleweight prospects.

The Liverpool lad had a brilliant amateur career and has handily won all twelve of his fights. He’s beaten a host of middleweights and super middleweights, among them Howard Clarke, Joel Ani, Ojay Abrahams, Jason Collins and Mike Duffield. He’s passed those tests but now comes face-to-face with a harder, arguably more difficult foe. Although he’s barely won more than he’s lost, Rob Burton has traded in much better company than Smith has. If he beats the youngster, Burton will cast a shadow over the future of Smith, who may suddenly find himself no longer in promoter Sports Network’s plans.

Smith isn’t planning on allowing any of that to happen, however. The twenty-two year old sometimes DJ has become more experienced than his twelve-fight career would let on, matriculating under the teachings of Billy “The Preacher” Graham in his Manchester gym. “Burton is a southpaw and I really like to fight left handers,” he remarked. “I like fighting them, to be honest. They seem to open up a lot more for me so I like sparring and fighting them. It’s no problem landing right hands and big left hooks around the back.”

Preferring to face opponents that try to walk their quarry down, Smith should have his druthers against Burton who’s programmed for non-stop come forward aggression. “After I knocked out Jason Collins, Sports Network’s matchmaker Dean Powell told my dad that anyone who comes at me, I’ll knock them out,” beamed the proud middleweight. “I seem to be better with people coming at me, when I don’t have to look for them. I can sit back, take my time and let my punches go with my feet planted. It’s been that way and the people who have come at me have been getting knocked out. I was a counter puncher in my later amateur career so I’m accustomed to it.”

A new wrinkle in the Liverpool man’s regimen has been his relocation to Manchester while in training camp, where he can be closer to Graham’s gym. Living alongside stable-mate, the Birmingham light middleweight Matthew Macklin, in quarters above trainer Bobby Rimmer’s Gorton pub has helped to tighten Smith’s grip on the sport he loves. “In a way living above the pub has caused me to focus more on boxing because I’m away from home and there’s nothing else to do, apart from going to the gym and training,” he mused. “Matthew Macklin lives and breathes boxing, he’s non-stop. I’m not like that; I can switch it off. All I’ve done really is become good at pool and darts. I go down about ten o’clock at night and play darts and pool with the old fellas,” Smith said with a laugh.

If Smith does turn the Burton roadblock into a hurdle, the career goes on full of promise and possibility. Should the former Commonwealth Games star prove unable to solve the puzzle on Friday night, the map to success must be redrawn. The determined young man is a stable mate of Matthew Hatton’s and should go into the fight with Burton armed to the teeth with practical tips from Ricky Hatton’s younger brother and should come out on top. What’s next? “Realistically, I want to go for the English middleweight title this summer. That would be a ten rounder against Donovan Smillie and on the Hatton – Tszyu show at the MEN.”

As long as Paul Smith can continue to win and develop his already considerable talent, dominance in the British scene should be within his grasp. If he does attain such a position, you can bet the ambitious Merseyside middleweight has America on his mind, as “The Real Gone Kid” isn’t agreeable to settling for anything less before the curtain comes down on his hopeful career.

Richard Eberline can be reached at richardeberline@fastmail.fm