Hearn appealing to WBO to make Paul Smith the mandatory for Abraham
September 28th, 2014 | Post Comment - 33 Comments
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Abraham Smith Abraham vs. Smith paul smith arthur abraham By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn says he’ll be appealing to the World Boxing Organization to have his beaten fighter Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) made the mandatory challenger to WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) so that Smith can get an immediate rematch.
Hearn isn’t happy that Smith lost to Abraham by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 117-110, 117-111 and 119-109 last Saturday night at the Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Hearn thought that it’s a fight that could have done either way, but by much closer scores. Since the scores were too lopsided for Hearn’s liking, he wants a rematch.
“119-109 is just not right in the sport of boxing,” Hearn said. “We will be appealing to the WBO, not for an immediate rematch because we don’t think that possible because we know how the system works. But because we feel Paul Smith should be installed as the immediate mandatory for Arthur Abraham. He hasn’t had a mandatory for a while.”
Hearn says he knows how the “system works.” I think it would be ridiculous for the WBO to order a rematch between Abraham and Smith. The judges made their decision and they felt that Abraham landed the better shots in the fight, and that’s why the scored the fight in such a lopsided manner. Even Hearn says it very well could have gone the other way in Abraham’s favor. I mean, that’s the difference in Smith losing by 10 points or losing by 1. He still lost the fight, and that’s the main thing.
Smith gave it his best shot, but he was simply outclassed by the more talented Abraham. We can’t have Abraham’s career stalled out fighting endless rematches against Smith just because he and his promoter Hearn aren’t happy with the lopsided scores. The judges did what they’re supposed to do, and that’s score the fight in a professional manner based on what they saw in the fight. Smith was getting hit with way too many big shots in every round for the judges to give him the fight or even give him a lot of rounds.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Hearn’s complaining to the WBO gets Smith an immediate rematch against Abraham. But I don’t see it making a big of difference. Abraham has too much power, too much talent, and Smith is just too easy to hit. If they fought 100 times, I see Abraham winning each time. That’s why a rematch is pretty much pointless. Smith just doesn’t have the talent to beat Abraham as far as I’m concerned. Smith and Hearn just need to accept the fact that the better man won last Saturday night.
What we don’t want to see is Abraham whipping Smith over and over again, and Smith and Hearn complaining about the decision each time and appealing to the WBO 24/7. Abraham needs to move on his career instead of getting stuck fighting a complaining Smith for the rest of his career.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch between Smith and Abraham if Smith were to beat someone like Andre Dirrell or Gilberto Ramirez first in order to prove that he deserves another title shot against Abraham. But for Smith to get another fight against Abraham without earning it, I wouldn’t be in favor of that.
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Hearn appealing to WBO to make Paul Smith the mandatory for Abraham
