Smart's unbeaten record of 14 fights led to him being offered a shot at an eliminator for European Flyweight championship against Spain's Enrique Rodríguez.
The match was held on 14 September 1982 at the Empire pool in Wembley, and Smart and George were given top billing in an event that had both Colin Jones and Frank Bruno fighting on the undercard.
[4] Smart didn't fight throughout 1985 and on his return in January 1986, he took a narrow points decision over Midlands area bantamweight champion Rocky Lawlor.
In February a return trip to Belfast saw him disqualified for a low blow against Dave McAuley, while two months later he was only able to draw against an inexperienced Joe Kelly in Glasgow.
He followed this with three overseas bouts against difficult opponents; Alain Limarola and Thierry Jacob of France and Guyanese bantamweight champion Michael Parris.
The next year Smart fought twice, losing to Fabrice Benichou in the first round and then a career ending defeat by future British featherweight champion Sean Murphy.