Smith looked unfazed as he paced around, smiling with Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard and his three brothers, Paul, Stephen and Callum, who were watching ringside. Alvarez would absorb two Smith shots to land one, and the plan paid off in the seventh when a dipping counter right hand dropped Smith.
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“I honestly believe he will be back here next year and he will win the title back”. No excuses, but my timing was so off.
“We made the offer and now it’s on him, the ball is in his court”. I never landed to to the body like I wanted to.
“Saul Alvarez may have won the fight but didn’t have it all his own way”. “He thinks before he attacks. I’m a counter-puncher so I enjoyed this fight very much”. “That is what secured the victory today”.
“I want to thank everybody that’s here”.
“I have just fought Canelo Alvarez, I’m not going to say to no to fighting Kell Brook”.
“I started going after him, but in the second round I hurt my hand”.
The aftermath of the Canelo vs Smith fight was expected, it was a harder fight than Canelo and the fans anticipated in part because the Mexican warrior hurt his right hand and also because Liam Smith came to fight. Alvarez was much quicker and had a strong and swift left while trying to set up a barrage of left and right body blows. Smith was up and survived the round but Alvarez was ready to finish him in the ninth round after forcing him to lean on the rope where Alvarez punish him with body shots.
Brook’s eye socket was damaged in that one, but he had moments of success against his rampaging foe. Golovkin must accept the terms and if he wins he can have the negotiation power in the rematch, until then, Canelo is the top dog in boxing right now.
Canelo knocked down Smith three times during the fight, the final time coming from a left hook to the body to finish him in the ninth round. We’ll see what weight we want to go and what weight gets us back to where we want to go. If I waited a little longer and got more experience I would be able to fight a guy like that better.
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And now the 26-year-old wants to take on unbeaten middleweight king Golovkin in a mouth-watering showdown. “I needed better timing, my timing was off”. On the other side, “Canelo” had fought Floyd Mayweather to a 12-round decision loss in 2013, and hasn’t been off pay-per-view since.
