He was managed by boxing promoter Frank Warren, who had seen Small to wins over former Ukrainian Light Middleweight Champion Vladimir Borovski and previously unbeaten prospect Prince Arron.
On 18 July 2009, Small fought for and won both the British and Commonwealth champion with an 8th round stoppage of Manchester's Matthew Hall after overwhelming him with a vicious flurry of hooks in the 8th, which forced the referee to stop the contest.
Small chose to give up the Commonwealth title and hold on to the British belt, defending it against mandatory challenger Sam Webb on 26 March 2010, who had also beaten McDonagh on points.
The fight, which was also close, went the distance with Webb surviving a nasty cut in the fifth round to claim the judges decision on points handing a second career defeat to Small.
[9] In 2014, he was arrested after two other men were apprehended at Dover with false documents, and appeared in court at the Old Bailey on 15 June 2015 charged with planning to go to Syria to fight with Islamic State after spreading terrorist material online.