Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith got a 4th round knockout of Hassan Mwakinyo in his return to home city of Liverpool, but it was not the perfect homecoming with the fight ending in confusion and controversy.

Smith was up against the heavy-handed Mwakinyo who had come to the UK and caused upsets against the home fighter in the past. Mwakinyo piled on the pressure in the early rounds of the fight, using fast jabs and powerful right hands, but Smith was feeling out his opponent’s rhythm and finding the openings .

Mwakinyo complained of ankle problems after a slip in the 2nd round, which seemed to impair his movement for the rest of the fight, and lead to the relatively unprovoked first knockdown in the fourth round, and the eventual second knockdown and stoppage at 1:46 into that round.

Smith had previously stated that Mwakinyo quit during a sparring session between the two years back - and he believes he quit again on Saturday.

Former world champion and Sky Sports pundit, Johnny Nelson, agrees with Smith and felt Mwakinyo took a dive and used his ankle as the excuse.

"He dived. I know it's disrespectful to say that about a fighter. I'm an ex-fighter so I'm allowed to say it. He dived," Nelson told Sky.

"Liam was familiar with this gentleman. So when they sparred he [Smith] said he's got quit in him. Even if he doesn't want to quit, he's going to quit. That's what he did, he quit. There was nothing wrong with him at all. He gave it his all and Liam was just stalking him down. His ankle didn't twist. He dived."