GM Ross – After being knocked out by David Lemieux in the second round of their Canadian Boxing Federation (CBF) super middleweight title fight on Saturday, April 3, 2010, the Canadian Press reports that Walid Smichet has announced his retirement as of Friday, April 9. Smichet has struggled of late, losing five of his last eight contests, with his two latest defeats coming by way of knockout. Born in Tunisia, and residing in St. Eustache, Quebec, Smichet will be remembered in the boxing world for a hard-hitting, straight forward style, that kept fight fans coming back for more..
Smichet started his career by tearing through the Canadian boxing scene, losing only one of his first eighteen bouts. After a crushing, first round knockout loss to fellow Quebec fighter Renan St. Juste in November 2006, Smichet showed his trademark resilience by winning the interim CBF middleweight title against then undefeated British Columbian Matt O’Brien in his next contest. After blowing out Terrance Jones the following bout via second round TKO, Smichet came up against the now highly touted Sebestian Demers for the CBF and WBC International middleweight titles. Demers thoroughly outfought Smichet taking the twelve round unanimous decision by a significant margin. The fight that would define Smichet’s career, however, was still to come.
In February 2008 Smichet travelled to New York to fight the undefeated, seemingly world-title destined, John Duddy of Ireland live on HBO. Previews of the fight given in the American Press by groups like USA Today and the New York Daily News barely mentioned Smichet, contenting themselves with elaborate descriptions of Duddy and the Irishman’s potential future showdown with Kelly Pavlik. If Smichet didn’t have the media’s attention prior to the fight, he certainly did after the first three minutes of action. With odds of 33/1 against him, Smichet stepped through the ropes and shocked the boxing world by landing frequent, staggering hooks, hurting Duddy early. The unheralded Canadian took punches right on the button, yet continued to press forward and exchange. Smichet slowed noticeably as the fight progressed, but rarely took a step backwards, providing one of the most exciting contests of the year. Although Duddy won the fight via majority decision, his plans to meet Pavlik were derailed by the slugging Canadian. Following the fight Duddy was quoted by the BBC as saying. “I’m glad I squeaked out the win.” Indeed, all Duddy could do was “squeak” by Smichet who, despite losing, left the undefeated Irishman a cut-up, bloody mess. Due to punishment administered by Smichet, Duddy’s bout with Pavlik, originally set for June of 2008, was rumoured to be rescheduled for later that year. The fight, however, never materialized.
Congratulations on an exciting and successful career Walid. You will be missed.