Liam Smith Ready to Step out of the Shadows After Impressive Victory

Ask anyone to talk about The Smiths and they might initially recall the famous British music band fronted by Morrissey.

Now, though, there is another group from the north-west of England by the same name who are hitting the right notes. The difference is, instead of using instruments, they are using their fists.

The musical version of The Smiths went their separate ways back in 1987, since when they have only got back together or court dates to sort out legal disputes over royalties.

The boxing Smiths, however, will always share a special bond. They are family, four brothers linked way beyond what happens in a ring.

Products of the well-known Rotunda ABC gym in Liverpool, Margaret's boys enjoyed success as amateurs before choosing to make the move into the professional game. 

SCOTT HEPPELL/Associated Press/Associated Press

Paul Smith is the oldest of the four at 32. He has twice taken reigning WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham the distance, only to eventually lose on points.

Stephen Smith, 29, won a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and since joining the paid ranks, he has been crowned British super featherweight champion.

Callum Smith is the baby of the family, a 24-year-old super middleweight who has wasted little time in compiling a 15-0 record. He is ranked in the Top 10 by the WBC and IBF.

Then there is Liam Smith.

The light middleweight, also known as Beefy, has already won British and Commonwealth titles, though his pro career has been hampered by injuries.

He fought just twice last year, but he has quickly made up for lost time with an impressive start to 2015.

The 26-year-old followed up a stoppage of Robert Talarek in March with a seventh-round TKO of David Ezequiel Romero on April 18, dominating the bout at the Echo Arena in his home city.

Smith now faces a tough, albeit welcome, decision over what to do next.

He can opt to defend the British belt for a third successive time, knowing another triumph would net him the Lonsdale belt outright.

However, Smith has loftier ambitions than just settling for domestic honours.

As he explained to Michael McKenna of the Liverpool Echo before going up against Romero: “We're going to have to make a decision after this fight because maybe I'll go ahead with the Chris Carslaw fight for the British title and then I can get rid of that with no burden on my back—no regrets.”

In the same article, the names of American duo Carson Jones and Cornelius Bundrage are mentioned.

They cropped up again after the defeat of Romero, who showed tremendous courage to climb off the canvas on four occasions before the referee eventually stepped in. Box Nation, Boxing promoter Dave Coldwell and Simon Pearce added their thoughts regarding Smith's future bouts:

Jones (37-10-3, 27 KO) is no stranger to British boxing fans.

At welterweight he pushed Kell Brook to the brink of a first defeat in 2012. Then, in February of this year, he moved up a division to stun Brian Rose inside a round in Blackpool.

Bundrage, meanwhile, is the reigning IBF champion who boasts a career record of 34-5 (19 KO).

But Smith—who won the Amateur Boxing Association of England as a light welterweight back in 2007—is not too impressed by the 41-year-old from Detroit, per Glynn Evans for FrankWarren.com:

"

I think K9 (Bundrage) has to be the easiest route to a world title, the weakest of the four champions. I don't rate him at all.

Technically, he's very poor. Look at still photos of him and his non-punching hand dangles by his waist.

That said, he's had several good wins over good fighters like Carlos Molina, (Zaurbek) Baysangurov, Cory Spinks twice, and Sechew Powell plus he's a two time world champion. He must be better than he looks.

He's obviously very fit, super strong and he can bang a bit.

"

Whichever route Smith chooses to take, his future looks bright right now.

Fellow Liverpudlian Tony Bellew was certainly impressed after the victory over the outclassed Romero, judging from his Twitter account in the immediate aftermath to the one-sided contest:

"

Great to see my 2 Rotunda brothers @JoeSelkirk69 an @LiamBeefySmith shine tonight! Joe was classy an Beef is the most underrated kid in UK!

— Tony Bellew (@TonyBellew) April 18, 2015"

Trainer Joe Gallagher admitted to Evans in an article on BoxNation that it would be impossible for him to judge who's the best of the Smiths, though he did say: "They're all outstanding kids, but Liam is possibly the most complete all-rounder."

There seems to be a friendly competition going on between the brothers to see who can be the first member of the family to go on and claim a world title.

Paul has so far come the closest, and Callum has perhaps received the most hype out of the foursome. Liam, however, is coming up fast on the rails.