Scouse super-middleweight Callum Smith captured the WBC silver title on Saturday night after headlining a show at the Echo Arena in his home city.
The talented 25yo dropped the very game Frenchman in the 8th round but he had too much heart to crumble and lasted the distance to lose on points 118-110, 118-110 and 120-107.
“Rebrasse was very tough, I have to give him a lot of credit,” said Smith. “He kept coming but I knew that going in there and that is why I chose to box him. I would have looked stupid going in there trying to blow him out of there. I respect his durability, he has proved it at the highest level. I think I showed that I can box and if I do go past one round I can stick to a game plan and do it but I did the 12 comfortably enough and felt I could have given more but what I was doing was working.
“I enjoy the early knockouts but if I am going to progress and go on to become a World champion I need fights like this. I feel I am improving all of the time and the only thing I need is experience, and I am gaining that.
“The left hand is a bit sore but hopefully it is just a bit of bruising. It went in the fifth but I still had to throw it, I can’t sit around and moan I have to throw and if I didn’t he would have come back into the fight. That’s boxing; you get injuries and you have to deal with them.
Promoter Eddie Hearn added: “Callum debuted on a Kell Brook card two and a half years ago and now he is headlining in his home town. It is great to watch a great young fighter come through the amateur ranks from the England to headlining his hometown. It is all about developing the fighters the right way and I feel his development has been first class
“People thought Callum was automatically going to win tonight but we knew how tough that fight was. There has been a lot of fight around Callum but that was the prefect fight and luckily the hype is real. He is going to be number one in the WBC now.
“That is going to put him on fight for challenging for the world title. Groves fights Jack and we feel we are only one fight away from that. The Rocky Fielding fight is a great fight for Liverpool but Callum has his eyes on World titles and that was the perfect performance. They are the kind of fights that will develop him as a fighter and he will probably have learnt more tonight than throughout his whole career.
“That is going to stand him in good stead when he challenges for the World title. It is within 12 months.”
