Ringside Report Looks Back at Former World Title Challenger Stephen “Swifty” Smith

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

When considering who I should review for “Bad” Brad, there can often be the impetus of a loss. Not one in a ring where it affects somebody’s record but the loss to the sport of someone who has lost their fight for life. Sad, though the inevitability of all our lives, it can focus the mind to celebrate the contribution of a fighter who has caught the eye in the past but faded from that glory, until their demise. In the good, they live a very full and active post fight career, for those caught up in the mental turmoil of the sport and the life not so well lived, it can end up being quite a depressing read – a fall is always dramatic copy.

And so, when you discover a retiral, the first thought can be – what injury has forced the issue? The depressing thought of an enforced retiral causes you to investigate the facts of the past, and when it is discovered that a former champion has made the decision, without ANY injury, to retire, you have no idea how good that feels!

Perhaps not as good as Stephen “Swifty” Smith, 28-4, 15 KO’s, feels as he has made the decision to hang up the gloves and move on. As he is one of four brothers, very much steeped in British boxing, I have little doubt that he shall not be moving far from the sport, but he has at least given up the professional getting hit in the head malarkey.

Smith fought at both featherweight and super featherweight professionally from 2008 to 2019. He had a sterling amateur career where he represented his country at the Commonwealth Games – winning gold in Melbourne in 2006, and bronze at the European Championships in the same year. Not bad for a fighter who was also an ABA champion twice, Four Nations winner and gold medalist at the Commonwealth Federation Championships in his home city of Liverpool in 2007.

Professionally he got in the ring, not once but twice to fight for a world title, and though he was unsuccessful, he had gathered British and Commonwealth titles as well as other trinkets, to his name, making his rise to world level a clearly merited one.

Having signed for Frank Warren, after leaving the amateurs, he made his debut in Birmingham against Shaun Walton and stopped him in the 3rd on the 21st of June 2008. Two years into his pro career he came north to Glasgow to take on Scottish fighter John Simpson and in Simpson’s backyard took the Commonwealth title in a tough fight which he won on points. Simpson was unimpressed and got a rematch, which Smith won again was held 7 months later, this time in Smith’s backyard of Liverpool saw Smith add the British title and got a majority decision to take it. Simpson continued to argue over the scoring, but the record books show the wins were Swifty’s.

Then came his first loss in 2011 when he took on the man known as the Welsh Mayweather, Lee Selby. In a British and Commonwealth defense he succumbed to a left hand in the 8th round, was stopped and lost both his belts.

Smith regrouped and sorted things out.

Three impressive wins came along, including the WBO intercontinental super featherweight belt won in a 1st round stoppage against Ben Jones in the Limehouse, on the 2nd of March 2012. In Cardiff, having gone to John Simpson’s backyard to win a title, he went to Cardiff to take on Gary Buckland in his hometown and took the British title in a 5th round knockout. Swifty was making more than an impression.

Then came the promotions move.

Going from Warren to Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom led to a court case and a complaint to the British Boxing Board of Control. Smith was instructed to fight for Warren and defend his British belt. He refused and relinquished the title; Smith got suspended.

But the Swifty train was not to be derailed. His ban did not last much more than a month before he got his license back and found himself on the Carl Froch Vs George Groves I undercard in Manchester. Up against Sergio Manuel Medina he knocked him out in the 8th. The only way was up… it was the 23rd of November 2013, and he now had the WBC international silver belt to show off.
On the 21st of May 2014 he travelled to Leeds where his opponent Mauricio Javier Munoz retired in the 8th round, and he retained the WBC silver belt. Two years later, having kept himself busy in the interim and having hovered around being named as a world title opponent, the time was now. to Mashantucket and the serious business of one Jose Pedraza. Fighting for the IBF super featherweight title he lost on points by wide margins; it was April 2016.

In May 2016, he was back in Liverpool, and he stopped Daniel Eduardo Brizuela for that WBC silver belt.

12th of November 2016, in Monte Carlo. The bizarre and very muted show put on by Matchroom in the rich boy’s playpen of Monte Carlo, ended with Jason Sosa beating a very muted Swifty on points. The WBA world title was not going to be his.

Rebuilding was to follow and in 2017, one of the most horrendous sights I have ever seen was Swifty’s ear, damaged in a fight in Las Vegas against Francisco Vargas. Caused by an accidental head butt, the ear was hanging off! To be fair, most commentators wondered about whether or not anyone could come back from that horror and to his credit Swifty did. His last fight was to be in 2019, home in Liverpool in a 6 rounder against Jonny Phillips that ended in a points win but perhaps that was the signal for Swifty that the bright lights of Las Vegas had come and gone and the time was ripe to find new challenges. Whatever they may be, it’s been a tremendous watch, as he has traversed the UK and beyond in search of glory.

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