WBO World Junior Middleweight Champion Liam Smith came face-to-face with challenger Canelo Alvarez at today’s final head-to-head press conference at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
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Now recovering from a savage beating at the hands of Gennady Golovkin, natural welterweight Brook would have no problem going up a weight division to face Smith. Smith seemed to start looking for offense as the fight went on, but when he landed it was clear he didn’t have the starch to actually hurt Alvarez. To Smith’s credit and probably to the surprise of many, Smith was competitive and on the Sporting News scorecards, he won two rounds.
It is also Mexican Independence Day on Friday, strengthening the feeling a platform has been built for Alvarez to excel upon. “A lot of people don’t like it, but I’m the best fighter right now”. “I’m going to win this fight”.
“I respect his power, but I respect there’s 50, 70 per cent of super-welterweights in the world whose power I can respect. I’m the champion, even though I am the B-side”.
“I don’t want that to happen, so this fear I have in training will bring the best out of me when I face Alvarez”. On Saturday, Canelo did just that. “Some people in the US might not know who Smith is yet but I definitely do. We can’t count them because we don’t know what’s coming”.
Smith has finally got his big fight but despite the pedigree of Alvarez and the fact that, as the champion, Smith is an underdog – Smith insists Canelo is a step onto better things.
Golovkin is a 34-year-old based in Santa Monica, California and the Kazakhstan native has said he wants the fight as soon as possible. “When the negotiations are done and the fight is done, I will be ready”. Signals have been mixed from the Alvarez camp whether he was waiting to better negotiating terms and location as well as wanting to spend more time training at a higher weight. “If I win the fight, then make sure I get the decision”.
“I will say this one more time”. They need to worry.
Golovkin defeated Kell Brook in commanding fashion earlier this month and it now appears that the matchup depends on each side’s promotional team to make the much-anticipated clash happen.
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“I have always known what he has and what he does not. If not we will move on”. I couldn’t land anything clean and he was too good for me on the night.
