Elgin professional boxer Andrew Smart plans to resurrect his career as a super lightweight in the next Last Man Standing competition after back-to-back title defeats this year
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ANDREW Smart feels he is edging closer to the Last Chance Saloon in his bid to become a Scottish professional boxing champion.
The former Elgin Amateur Boxing Club fighter turned pro more than five years ago, and won his first six bouts.
That landed him a crack at the Scottish Area welterweight title in March after battling his way through a Last Man Standing competition to reach the final.
Smart (29) then fought Edinburgh’s Robbie Graham in the final in Aberdeen over ten rounds, and came out on the wrong end of a controversial points verdict as he believes he won the final by some distance.
Denied a Scottish welterweight belt, Smart switched weights to take on reigning Sottish super lightweight champion Martin Crossan on a high quality bill in September which included multiple world champion Ricky Burns.
This time Smart had no qualms about his defeat as he was twice knocked to the canvas in the opening round by the unbeaten Crossan, the referee stopping the bout prematurely.
After two losses, it might have been easy for the Elgin fighter to lose focus but instead he has returned with a determination to get back to winning ways.
With the Last Man Standing event coming back this year at super lightweight, Smart was drawn to face unbeaten Glaswegian Xander Savage at the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow in the quarter-finals.
However, on Wednesday his opponent pulled out due to a bout of concussion, handing Smart a place in the semi-finals against experienced Ayr fighter Calvin McCord.
That bout takes place at Paisley’s Lagoon Leisure centre on December 3, with Smart confident he will come through it and earn his place in the final in March.
“I’m fired up for this,” he said. “I wasn’t about to go out on a loss like my last one.
“But I did begin to think if I lost to Xander Savage, that might be me finished.
“Now that he’s out, it gives me an extra seven weeks to train even harder for the next one.
“It will be a challenge but I’m up for it - I always am.”
Smart got a taste of the boxing big time for his contest against Crossan in Glasgow’s Braehead Arena. Top of that bill was Scottish superstar Burns, who saw off Willie Limond with an eighth round knockout to the delight of the 4000 crowd.
Scottish Commonwealth Games fighters Charlie Doig - who Smart fought three times in amateur boxing - and Tyler Jolly were also on an all-star show.
“It felt like a big occasion,” Smart said. “I had never felt like that before going into an arena and seeing that much bright lights. The scale of it was massive. There was about 4000 people in there and it was televised. I would love to be part of an occasion like that again.”
Smart, who runs his own kartway business in Moray, said most people who watched his Scottish title bout with Graham felt he was the winner - but not the referee.
He travels to Aberdeen three times a week to train with Northern Sporting Club coach and manager David McAllister, and says he is in great shape to give his latest tournament his best shot.
“I’m feeling good and raring to go for December.
“I know when I lost (to Crossan) that I got up too quickly after i was knocked down and didn’t have my legs back. I won’t make that mistake again.”
