[2] He had his first professional fight on 1 February 1907, a day before his eighteenth birthday, beating Jack Brooks on points over six rounds.

Smith was down four times in the twenty round bout for short counts, but was still reported to have won handily.

[7] [8] On 19 September 1912, he made the first defence of his British flyweight title against Curley Walker at the Ring in Southwark, England, winning on points in a twenty-round bout.

He lost the bout after holding his titles only seven weeks, suffering a technical knockout when the fight was stopped in the eleventh round.

[10] On 24 October 1913, unable to return to the ring for the sixth round, he lost to Charles Ledoux at the Élysée Montmartre in Paris.

In their December 1914 bout in Liverpool, Wilde successfully defended his claim to the British 112 pound (flyweight) title.

After retiring from boxing, he went into coaching boys, earning a living with a 'guess your weight' machine at markets in South London, though plagued by health problems.