![]() It would have been a good idea for his corner to have pulled him out in the later rounds when Smith started to really hammer him with shots. Skoglund took a great deal of punishment in the fight. He looked bored during the middle of the fight, perhaps due to how easy it was for him in earlier rounds. Smith fought well in the first 4 and last 4 rounds. Smith won his quarterfinals fight in the WBSS tournament last September in beating previously undefeated super middleweight contender Erik Skoglund (26-1, 12 KOs) on September 16 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. ”But, for now, I am fully focused on Nieky, and then I can talk more about Groves after the fight.” “I always knew from the start of the tournament that there was a massive opportunity that George (Groves) would be waiting in the final,” Smith said. NEWS: Boxing Results: “Showtime” Sunny Edwards Defeats Andres Campos! Like I said, the WBSS organizers don’t appear to have given much thought about the potential of one of the tournament participants dropping out due to an injury or illness. In Holzken’s case, he spent years as a kickboxer and he’s new to the sport of boxing. Holzken is a novice in the sport, and he hasn’t had the upbringing that Smith, Braehmer or George Groves had. Even if he looks great in defeating the Holzken, who comes from the Netherlands, he’s not going to be given a tremendous amount of credit from the boxing fans. It’s tough place for Smith to be in tonight. I just want to win, win well, and look good doing it,” Smith said. People will see that I am good enough to win the tournament. “I have had a really good camp and I have improved on stuff from the last fight and people will see a better performance from me. “I came here to book a place in the final,” Callum Smith said. He is a doing a bit of looking past Holzken, but he’s being respectful about it and giving the appearance that this is right and not a situation where he’s being given a rubber stamp to move to the finals of the WBSS. Smith obviously knows this is a mismatch for him, but he’s not gloating about it and celebrating too much right now. Smith, 27, is trying to be as modest as possible about his chances of winning the fight tonight. NEWS: What next for Luis Alberto Lopez after destruction of Michael Conlan? The choice of opponent to replace Braehmer suggests that there wasn’t much thought by the WBSS organizers that there might be an illness or injury that would cause one of the main participants to drop out of the tournament. To be sure, it’s an awful choice on their part, because Holzken is an unranked fighter with no experience against upper tier opposition and seemingly very little talent. The World Boxing Super Series organizers chose the 34-year-old Holzken as the replacement. An unexpected illness caused the 39-year-old Braehmer to drop out of the tournament last week. There could be a lot of vacant seats in the arena, as this venue was originally selected due to German fighter Juergen Braehmer scheduled to meet Smith. ![]() Smith-Holzken will be fighting it out tonight at the Nurnberger Versicherung Arena in Nuremburg, Germany. For a prospect like Holzken to be fighting Smith, it doesn’t look good for him. Holzken is facing a guy that even the most experienced fighters in the super middleweight division would have major problems with. ![]() Holzken is a prospect and not a contender. (Photo credit: World Boxing Super Series) ![]() By Marcus Richardson: The semifinals of the World Boxing Super Series tournament will continue tonight with unbeaten Callum Smith (23-0, 17 KOs) meeting up with alternate Nieky Holzken (13-0, 10 KOs) in a contest to determine the opponent to meet George Groves (28-2, 20 KOs0 in the finals of the tournament on June 2 at the O2 Arena in London, England. ![]()
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