Liam Smith vs Hassan Mwakinyo Preview Sept. 3rd , 2022
Former world champion Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith of Liverpool, England will be fighting in his hometown this Saturday, September 3rd when he takes on Hassan Makwinyo of Tanzania. The 12-round junior middleweight tilt can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports Action. Smith last fought in April when he stopped former world champion Jessie Vargas in the 10th round. Mwakinyo last boxed a year ago when he halted former junior welterweight champ Julius Indongo in the fourth round to defend his African Union Junior Middleweight Crown.
Smith vs Mwakinyo Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Hassan Makwinyo +800
- Liam Smith -1500
My Pick
The 34-year-old Smith won the vacant WBO Junior Middleweight Title against John Thompson via a seventh-round TKO in October, 2015 and defended it by stopping fellow Brit Jimmy Kelly in the seventh round two months later. He then defended against Predrag Radosevic by a second-round stoppage in June, 2016. However, he lost the title three months later when Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez stopped him in the ninth round.
Smith is also a former British and Commonwealth Champion who has won a couple other belts such as the WBO Inter-Continental and WBA International Super Welterweight Titles. He also became the first world champion to hail from Liverpool in 22 years when he won the world WBO crown. Since losing his belt to Alvarez he’s won two fights against Liam Williams as well as stopping Sam Eggington, Anthony Fowler, Jessie Vargas and Mario Lozano and decisioned Roberto Garcia and Marian Cazacu.
In that span, Smith also had a shot at regaining the WBO Title in 2018 when he lost a unanimous decision to Jaime Munguia. He also fought for the vacant WBO International Super Welterweight Title in Russia in 2021 against Magomed Kurbanov but dropped a controversial unanimous decision. This means he now carries around a record of 31-3-1 with 18 Ko’s. His lone draw was a four-round affair with Terry Carruthers in 2010.
Smith is on the short side for a junior middleweight at just over 5-feet-9-inches tall and unfortunately has an unlisted reach. He made his pro debut back in 2008 after a fine amateur career and now has 224 rounds under his belt since then. Smith basically possesses average power in his fists as his knockout ratio currently stands at of 51.4 per cent.
As for Mwakinyo, the 27-year-old is hoping to increase his presence on the world stage with a win over Smith as a follow up to his victory over Julius Indongo. Mwakinyo, who now fights out of Miami, Florida, climbs through the ropes with a mark of 20-2 with 14 Ko’s. He’s boxed 114 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015 and has also captured the vacant WBF Inter-Continental, Universal Boxing Organization, WBA Pan African, and Tanzanian Super Welterweight Belts.
Mwakinyo stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 72-inch reach so gives up 1.5-inches in height to Smith. He does have good power in his fists to go along with solid boxing skills as his current knockout ratio reads 63.6 per cent. But other than stopping Indongo and Sam Eggington, his opponents have been relatively unknowns. His first loss came at the hands of Shabani Kaoneka by way of 6th-round TKO in 2016 and by 10-round unanimous decision to Lendrush Akopian for the vacant WBC Youth Super Welterweight Title in 2017.
Prediction…
This is an interesting matchup as Mwakinyo has the power to do some damage and also has pretty good boxing skills while Smith is also naturally aggressive and powerful. Smith definitely has the edge in experience against world-class opposition and that should certainly give him an edge here. I can see this fight going to Smith though as long as he doesn’t get careless and walk into something.
A close battle with Smith’s experience likely helping him out.
Play: Smith -1500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Hassan Mwakinyo betting • Liam Smith betting