Liam Smith kept on course for another world title shot, as he stopped Hassan Mwakinyo in the fourth round of their super welterweight contest at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.
Smith had previously served as WBO champion at 154 pounds before shipping his belt to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in 2016, and was working his way back into world class, while Mwakinyo’s claim to fame was a 2018 second round stoppage of Sam Eggington.
The Tanzanian was no match for Smith here, and the end came in round four. Under pressure in the fourth round, Mwakinyo was dropped to a knee in his own corner. As Smith closed in for the finish, Mwakinyo went down again and the Liverpudlian opened up with punches, belting him into the ropes.
The referee had taken it as a white flag from the visitor, waving the bout off.
As BIZARRE a finish as you'll see!! 🤯🤯
Hassan Mwakinyo takes a knee for the second time in the round and the referee's seen enough. 🤷@Boxxer | #SmithMwakinyo pic.twitter.com/RpGPZACF29
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) September 3, 2022
Natasha Jonas (12-2-1, KO8) unified the super welterweight world titles, as she added the WBC belt to her WBO championship with a wide points win against Patricia Berghult (15-1, KO3). Jonas took the fight by two scores of 100-90, and a third tally at 99-91.
A complete firefight. Round 8 caught light in #JonasBerghult 🔥@TashaJonas digging the shots in to head and body 🤯#FightNightLiverpool | 3 Sep | M&S Arena, Liverpool | @SkySportsBoxing pic.twitter.com/OaZaqLofaZ
— BOXXER (@boxxer) September 3, 2022
✨ 𝐖𝐁𝐎 𝐱 𝐖𝐁𝐂 ✨
Just look what it means to Natasha Jonas as she unifies in her home city! ❤️@Boxxer | #SmithMwakinyo pic.twitter.com/KAeq6OoJIR
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) September 3, 2022
Dan Azeez (17-0, KO11) made a successful first defence of his British light heavyweight title, as he took a unanimous decision win against former champion, Shakan Pitters (17-2, KO6). The Londoner was a step ahead during the fight, and took the win by scores of 117-111 and 117-112, and a third card at 115-113.
Springing up with stinging punches @dan_azeez 🤜#FightNightLiverpool | 3 Sep | M&S Arena, Liverpool | @SkySportsBoxing pic.twitter.com/hJrvXDjuS5
— BOXXER (@boxxer) September 3, 2022
Frazer Clarke (3-0, KO3) wasted little time extending his unbeaten record, as the heavyweight dropped Pencho Tsvetkov (7-1, KO5) twice on the way to a first round victory in what was clearly a mis-match.
Adam Azim (6-0, KO5) is a precocious talent, and he needed little time in stopping Michel Cabral (5-5, KO1) in the first round of their super lightweight encounter.
AZIM DOES IT AGAIN! ⚡⚡
It's a third consecutive first-round stoppage and another sensational backflip. TALENT.@Boxxer pic.twitter.com/0qQ5TRzSyg
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) September 3, 2022
Diego Costa (8-1, KO5) was all set to meet John Docherty, but the Scot pulled out, and Costa was upset by Musa Moyo (5-0, KO0) at light heavyweight. Moyo took a 58-56 verdict on the cards.
Frankie Stringer (2-0, KO0) remained undefeated, taking every round of four against Karl Sampson (1-11, KO0) at lightweight, and at cruiserweight, Scott Forrest (3-0, KO3) stopped Dmitrij Kalinovskij (13-70-4, KO5) in the third round at cruiserweight.
𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐔𝐓 𝐊𝐎! 💣
Scott Forrest with a huge finish… 😮💨@Boxxer | #SmithMwakinyo pic.twitter.com/8j5QqTHqf5
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) September 3, 2022
At super welterweight, Clark Smith (1-0, KO0) made a debut, and outscored Petar Aleksandrov (4-21, KO2) over four rounds.
