Liam Smith battled past a tough Steve O'Meara today in London to win the vacant Commonwealth junior middleweight title on scores of 116-112, 116-112, and 118-110. BLH scored it 115-112 for Smith.

Smith (13-0-1, 5 KO) scored a knockdown on O'Meara (16-3, 5 KO) at the end of the first round, but other than that, the fight was nip-and-tuck pretty much the entire way. Smith seemed to get the better of things as the fight wore on, save for a late charge from O'Meara, and despite scores suggesting he won handily -- he did win the fight for sure -- he got more than a solid test today from the 28-year-old O'Meara. Smith, 24, just got the better of the action in the end.

Still a prospect more than anything, Smith will be in the mix for the British title soon enough. British champion Brian Rose was mentioned by Smith during his post-fight interview, but Smith also said he'll look to defend his new belt a couple of times before aiming for that fight.

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