If Callum Smith was serious about getting a crack at Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, then perhaps he did himself a disservice with his performance against John Ryder.
The game mandatory challenger went the distance with Smith, and he did enough that it wouldn't have been surprising to see his hand raised as the new WBA super middleweight champion Saturday at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Judges, however, questionably gave Smith a unanimous decision, scoring it 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112.
After the bout, Smith acknowledged to Sky Sports that "it wasn't the best performance from myself, but I was due a bad one," before trying to save face and asserting that he needs a bigger name, such as Alvarez or Billy Joe Saunders, to properly rise to the occasion and box to the best of his ability.
Of course, Ryder wasn't buying that notion, commenting in his postfight interview that he thought he did enough to win.
Although Smith used his jab effectively to find a home for his right hand early on, Ryder worked diligently to close the space between the two to go to the champ's body and land upstairs.
The two butted heads while feinting and jockeying for position in the fourth round, opening a cut over Smith's right eye. Every time Smith landed his right hand on the outside, it seemed like the challenger was able to fire back on the inside while remaining the aggressor for a majority of the rounds.
While Smith's performance wasn't his best and he got more of a fight than anticipated from Ryder, he still retained his title. Tony Bellew, for one, believes Smith would make for an enticing opponent for Alvarez but that the face of boxing will avoid the clash because of Smith's style.