Liam Smith remains on course to land a big fight as he removed the threat of the heavy-handed Hassan Mwakinyo in four rounds in front of his loyal Liverpool following.
‘Beefy’ had been in decent form heading into the bout with wins over Anthony Fowler and Jessie Vargas, and he maintained that streak by forcing the awkward Tanzanian to stay down.
Smith had made a cautious start to the contest as he decided to take a look at Mwakinyo, but the bout exploded into life after the African hurt his ankle in round three.
Feeling like he was perhaps on borrowed time, Mwakinyo let his hands go, and he appeared to catch Smith a solid shot on the bell at the end of round three.
Any chance the fight was going in his favor was quickly extinguished as Smith entered the fourth session with added purpose.
Using just pressure, Smith floored Mwakinyo, and although he beat the count, he quickly hit the deck again without receiving a shot forcing Victor Loughlin to call a halt to the action. Smith made his future intentions clear in the post-fight interview.
“Just get me a big fight. I’m bored of saying it,” said Smith when speaking to Sky Sports in the ring after his win.
Speaking about January’s fight between Jermell Charlo and Tim Tszyu, Smith added, “I’ll fight the winner. Everybody knows that I’ll fight the winner tomorrow.”