Stephen Smith suffered one of the most horrific injuries in sport last night during his Las Vegas super featherweight bout with Francisco Vargas.
The Liverpudlian was looking to move back into the world title picture but sustained the shocking injury to his left ear in the ninth round.
No, it wasn't caused by Mike Tyson making a run-in and taking a chomp out of another boxer's ear, an accidental clash of heads occurred and it led to half of Smith's ear being ripped off and blood spilling all over the place.
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WARNING: Not for the squamish.
'Swifty' was adamant he wanted to continue and tried to do so, showing true fighting spirit, but the ringside stressed that the fight could not continue with Smith's ear in such horrendous condition, with the result then decided by the judges, who were all in favour of a win for former world champ Vargas.
Former two-weight world champion Andre Ward said he had never seen anything like it in a boxing match and we're inclined to agree. 32-year old Smith received plenty of praise on social media for being an absolute warrior:
Incredible bravery displayed. We wish Stephen a speedy recovery from a truly sickening injury.
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