British super-middleweight Callum Smith has won the WBC silver title with a points win over Christopher Rebrasse.
The unbeaten Liverpudlian floored his opponent with a body shot in the 10th round, but despite the Frenchman going the distance, Smith prevailed by scores of 118-110, 118-110 and 120-107 respectively.
None of the three scorecards did justice to the performance of Rebrasse though, who frequently fired back at Smith who was landing with hard, digging shots to both the head and body.
The majority of the rounds were close, but Smith had the edge heading into the second half of the contest and by round eight, there were signs that Rebrasse's work-rate and defence had dropped off slightly.
Smith had his opponent on the canvas in the 10th after a barrage of punches concluded with a body shot that left Rebrasse struggling, but to his credit, he continued to fire back at Smith without really threatening a response.
The final two rounds were competitive as Rebrasse went for the stoppage that he required, but Smith was content to box effectively to see it out to the final bell to earn his 17th successive victory.
Darren Plant
