Callum Smith defended his WBA Super Middleweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over gritty challenger John Ryder at The Echo Arena in Smith’s hometown of Liverpool. England.

Smith had to dig down as Ryder made it a dog-fight and fought with a cut over his right eye.

Ryder, 167.4 lbs of Liverpool won by scores of 117-111 and 116-112 twice to raise his mark to 27-0. Ryder, 167.4 lbs of London is 28-5.

“I want the best names in the division and I’m not disrespecting John Ryder but there was no fear tonight,” Smith told Sky Sports afterwards.

“I didn’t believe John Ryder was good enough to beat me. There are fighters that I believe are good enough to beat me that don’t perform and that’s going to bring out the best in me. That’s what I want, I want the big names.

“I just want a big name, where if I turn up like tonight I’ll lose. That fear brings out the best performance in me, I feel I need that.”

“I thought that was harsh,” said Ryder. “I thought I forced the fight, he was just nicking rounds, if that. I thought I done enough to win that.

“I’ve lost for the British title three times, I’ve come back and fought for a world title against the world No 1. I think I’ve done more than enough to show I’m credible for this and I will come again.”

Chris Billam-Smith stopped Craig Glover in round five of their scheduled 12-round cruiserweight bout.

In round one, Glover was cut around the right eye. In round four, Billam-Smith dropped Glover with a combination to the head. In round five, it was a left from Billam-Smith that sent Glove down again. Seconds later, Billam-Smith continued to pound away on Glover and the fight was stopped just as Billam-Smith sent Glover down with a right hand at 1:45.

Billam-Smith, 198.7 lbs of Bournemouth is 10-1 with nine knockouts. Glover, 198.3 lbs of Liverpool is 10-3.

“Craig is a very good fighter. I was scared going into that fight,” said Billam-Smith afterwards. “I’d love that fight next [Richard Riakporhe vs Jack Massey].”

Anthony Fowler won a 10-round unanimous decision over Harry Scarff in a super welterweight bout.

In round nine, Fowler landed a right hand that put Scarff down.

Fowler, 153.8 lbs of Liverpool won by scores of 98-91 on all cards, and is now 11-0. Scarff, 152.9 lbs of Derby is 8-1.

“His nickname is ‘Horrible’, he didn’t want to fight. That was a horrible, frustrating fight,” Fowler told Sky Sports afterwards. “As long as I win, that’s my main priority.”

Sean Dodd won a technical majority decision over Tom Farrell in a super lightweight bout.

In round one, Farrell suffered a bloody nose. In round four, Farrell was cut over his right eye from an accidental headbutt. The blood covered his face, and he said he could not see following the round and the bout was stopped.

Since four rounds were completed they went to the scorecards, and Dodd was ahead 39-38, 39-37 and 38-38.

Dodd is now 16-5-1. Farrell is 17-3.

Thomas Whittaker-Hart stopped Josp Perkovic in a scheduled six-round cruiserweight bout.

Hart, 178.4 lbs of Liverpool is 4-0 with two knockouts. Perkovic, 180.6 lbs of Croatia is now 9-2.

Craig Glover has promised to knockout Chris Billam-Smith when they meet for the vacant Commonwealth Cruiserweight title at The M&S Bank Arena Liverpool on Saturday, live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US. The Tony Bellew-managed Liverpool prospect suffered a shock upset at the hands of Vaclav Pejsar last time out at the arena back in March, hitting the canvas twice before being stopped in the second round. He bounced back from the second defeat of his pro career by outpointing Jiri Svacina over six rounds in July. Standing in the way of his first title success is Bournemouth’s Billam-Smith, who went the distance with Londoner Richard Riakporhe in a close battle for the WBA Inter-Continental title at The O2 earlier this year. The pair know each other well having sparred six rounds in 2018 but Glover insists that any respect between them will go out of the window once the bell rings.  “This is a massive opportunity and it’s something that I’m going to take with both hands,” said Glover. “I’ve shown Chris the respect during the build-up but come Saturday night there won’t be any respect. I’m going to put it right on him and knock him out. It doesn’t go twelve rounds. It’s going to be a war, 100%.   “Sometimes things happen for a reason and in that loss, I learnt more than I did in probably all of my wins. You can look at a record and think ‘oh he’s knocking a lot of people out’, but you’re not really learning things. Coming from that loss I learnt a lot and I’m going to take that into this fight. I know exactly what I need to do and I’m going to do it.    A relative novice in the amateur code, Glover made his pro debut at Goodison Park in November 2016 with third round stoppage over Darren Snow. His first defeat in the paid code came when he narrowly lost to Jake Bonnalie in 2017. He quickly recovered from that defeat, building his ledger with a number of solid wins throughout the UK and scoring some sensational knockouts along the way against durable international opposition. Despite this, the 28-year-old knows it would be a long road back if he were to suffer another loss on home soil this weekend. “It’s a must-win fight for the both of us so it’s all on the line. I’ve trained properly and prepared properly. In my mind it’s just about winning and beating Billam-Smith. The title is obviously massive but I’ve just got to win this fight at all costs.  “I think it’s going to gel and potentially be fight of the night. The only thing that matters is me winning this fight though. There’s big fights out there but this is the only fight that I’m thinking of. This is the fight that I’ve got to win and that’s what I’m going to do.”  Glover vs. Billam-Smith is part of a huge night of action in Liverpool.  Main event sees Liverpool’s Callum Smith (26-0, 19 KOs) defend his WBA World, WBC Diamond and Ring Magazine Super-Middleweight titles against John Ryder (28-4, 16 KOs), Anthony Fowler (10-1, 8 KOs) meets Harry Scarff (8-0, 1 KO) for the WBA International Super-Welterweight title, James Tennyson (25-3, 21 KOs) and Craig Evans (20-2-2, 3 KOs) square-off in a final eliminator for the British Lightweight title, Tom Farrell (17-2, 5 KOs) clashes with Sean Dodd (16-5-1, 3 KOs) in a must-win encounter for both men Liverpool Light-Heavyweight talent Thomas Whittaker-Hart (3-0, 1 KO) aims to end his first year as a pro in style, former World title challenger Stephen Smith (27-4, 15 KOs) returns and Liverpool Super-Lightweight Marcus Molloy (1-0) and Skelmersdale Welterweight Tom Aitchson (1-0) both go for their second win in the pro ranks.

Chris Billam-Smith has vowed to silence the crowd at the M&S Bank Arena Liverpool on Saturday when he clashes with local prospect Craig Glover for the vacant Commonwealth Cruiserweight crown, live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US. 

‘The Gentleman’ found himself on the wrong end of a split decision against big-hitting Londoner Richard Riakporhe in a close battle for the WBA Inter-Continental title at The O2 last time out in July and will be aiming to bounce back with a win against his former sparring partner, Glover. 

Undeterred by his first professional loss, Billam-Smith (9-1, 8 KOs) hopes that a win over the Tony Bellew-managed Scouser will lead to a future rematch with Riakporhe, who meets Jack Massey for the vacant British title at York Hall on December 19. 

“I’m going straight back into a big domestic fight and that’s exactly what I wanted,” said Billam-Smith. “It can’t be a bad fight. We both like to let our hands go, we both like to get stoppages, throw big shots, there’s not any running from either of us. He’s not going to be holding and stuff like Riakporhe was. It will be a very physical fight but a lot less grappling and a lot more big shots going in. 

“Last time at The O2 was a great experience, it was a good fight, one we thought that we won. We felt comfortable when the final bell went. That’s obviously a rematch that I’d like in the future. He’s going for the British title next month so maybe we can get it on for that in the new year. First up it’s Craig and he has my full attention and respect. 

“We’ve sparred before and Craig is a great lad but this is business and it can only be a cracking fight, I’m certain of that. We only sparred the once and it was only six rounds but it was a close spar, it was a good spar and a good one to watch. It was competitive the whole time and we both came out of it thinking that we would box each other for a title and here we are.”

Glover has experienced mixed fortunes since turning over to the professional ranks in May 2016 on the Bellew  vs. Makabu World title blockbuster at Goodison Park. He lost in just his third pro outing before being dropped and stopped by Vaclav Pejsar in Liverpool earlier this year. 

Despite this, the 28-year-old is remains highly-rated by many in the fight game, including former WBC Cruiserweight king Bellew. Billam-Smith is familiar with fighting on Merseyside and believes he has what it takes to silence Glover’s fans once more. 

“I boxed at the M&S Bank Arena as an amateur in the ABA’s so I’m familiar with the place and the city as well. I love it up there, I love Liverpool as a city. The fans are very passionate people. Craig is a good lad and most scousers are. They’re all very nice people but unfortunately I’m going to have to silence them on the night. 

“It’s going to be a bit more of a partisan crowd this time being in Liverpool but I’ll be bringing a few up from Bouremouth and London. My brother was actually there when Craig got stopped and he said it was very noisy up until the stoppage. That’s obviously the plan for me, to silence the crowd. It’s a cracking fight and we’re both exciting to watch with come-forward styles. I believe that it will be an absolute barnburner while it lasts.”

Glover vs. Billam-Smith is part of a huge night of action in Liverpool. 

Main event sees Liverpool’s Callum Smith (26-0, 19 KOs) defend his WBA World, WBC Diamond and Ring Magazine Super-Middleweight titles against John Ryder (28-4, 16 KOs), Anthony Fowler (10-1, 8 KOs) meets Harry Scarff (8-0, 1 KO) for the WBA International Super-Welterweight title, James Tennyson (25-3, 21 KOs) and Craig Evans (20-2-2, 3 KOs) square-off in a final eliminator for the British Lightweight title, Tom Farrell (17-2, 5 KOs) clashes with Sean Dodd (16-5-1, 3 KOs) in a must-win encounter for both men Liverpool Light-Heavyweight talent Thomas Whittaker-Hart (3-0, 1 KO) aims to end his first year as a pro in style and Liverpool Super-Lightweight Marcus Molloy (1-0) and Skelmersdale Welterweight Tom Aitchson (1-0) both go for their second win in the pro ranks.