Aaron McKenna dominates Liam Smith to earn breakout victory in London

AARON MCKENNA OUTCLASSED and dropped Liam Smith en route to a landslide decision victory in his career-biggest fight in London.

Monaghan middleweight McKenna improved his professional record to 20-0 (10KOs), dominating Liverpool’s former light-middleweight world champion from pillar to post at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Fighting third from last on the Chris Eubank Jr-Conor Benn card in the English capital, Smithborough’s ‘Silencer’ elevated his profile and likely entered the world-title picture with a polished display against Smith, whom many in the UK fancied would ‘old-man’ the less seasoned Irishman.

McKenna, 25, dropped his 36-year-old opponent with a pearler of a left hook to the body in the final round but the courageous Smith survived to hear the final bell, applauding the verdict as McKenna took a unanimous decision on scores of 119-108, 117-109 and 118-108.

Smith stopped Chris Eubank Jr two fights ago before suffering a similar fate in their rematch. He may well ride off into the sunset having been so comprehensively beaten in this crossroads fight.

McKenna, who earned much of his professional boxing education working under trainers like Robert Garcia and Freddie Roach while he was promoted by Golden Boy in California, will move on to bigger and better things having formally introduced himself to a massive audience.

Smith (now 33-5-1, 20KOs) sought to pressure McKenna in the opening round, cutting off the ring and stalking his taller opponent. It was the Monaghan man, however, who landed the only shots of note, jabbing and pot-shotting off the backfoot to bank the early 10-9.

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McKenna upped the ante slightly in the second. While, again, he boxed mostly on the retreat, he landed a couple of tidy one-twos, finding a home for his left hand and sneaking a couple of uppercuts through Smith’s guard. The Liverpudlian responded with a tidy left hook down the pipe as McKenna calculated proceedings off the ropes, but it was another clear McKenna round.

McKenna produced a picturesque spin and counter right to commence the third. His footwork and routine, fleeting changes in stance from orthodox to southpaw were making him a difficult target for Smith to lock onto, albeit the Englishman — still on the front foot in a literal sense — did have split-second moments of success in the round.

McKenna, though, was undeniably 3-0 up heading into the fourth. He punctuated another comfortable round with five unanswered punches, none of which hurt Smith but all of which combined to leave him look slightly bedraggled.

During a clinch in the fifth, Smith pawed at his right eyebrow and revealed a cut which had been caused by a clash of heads. It gave Smith a greater sense of urgency but McKenna matched the increased tempo with ease, outfoxing the older boxer with his feet, upper-body movement and measured shots off either hand.

Smith’s first sliver of encouragement came in the fifth and not from his own work, but from referee John Latham who deducted McKenna a point for pushing his opponent off with his forearm after an earlier warning.

The former light-middleweight beltholder still didn’t do enough to win the round outright as he swallowed most of the blows across a slightly more ragged three minutes.

While Smith landed a couple of eye-catching shots to start the seventh, it was McKenna who, by then, was beginning to edge the close-up physical encounters. He edged Smith backwards in the clinch, stabbing shots into his body in an effort to turn the screw on the older man.

It became clear in the eighth that, having already bested Smith from his preferred range, McKenna decided to try to beat the Liverpudlian at his own game. He routinely ripped right uppercuts through Smith’s guard during phonebooth exchanges, popping ‘Beefy’ with three shots for every one received.

The ninth passed without incident, relatively speaking, with McKenna pocketing another round at his leisure.

‘The Silencer’ peppered Smith from all angles in the 10th, pulling all kinds of arrows from his quiver. Smith, to his credit, bit down and dug in, and even touched gloves with his opponent at the end of the round in a mark of appreciation.

The older fighter landed a handful of significant-looking shots in the first half of the 11th but McKenna had long since drained his power. The Irishman walked through Smith’s work with ease, producing a gorgeous, lightning-fast three-punch combo in the back half.

Seconds into the final round, McKenna sunk Smith to his knees with a vicious left hook to the body. ‘Beefy’ smiled ruefully at his corner, rising at the count of eight.

McKenna went in for the kill but Smith’s potential last stand in a boxing ring was stirring as he absorbed the punishment and flung back a few Hail Mary shots of his own.

McKenna gave him a couple of nods of appreciation, cruising towards a points finish and, as if to reiterate his own point, making Smith look silly with some clever movement and a counter in the seconds before the final bell.

Smith applauded the winner before McKenna’s name even left the MC’s lips. His race is probably run, but McKenna’s has just begun.