Liam Smith vs. Canelo Alvarez possible

By Boxing News - 06/05/2016 - Comments

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By Eric Baldwin: WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith’s promoter Frank Warren says he’s going to try and get him a big name for his next fight this year. Warren would like to match the 27-year-old Smith against either Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Kell Brook. Warren also would like to put together a fight between Smith and Miguel Cotto if possible.

Warren says he should know within the next week where he stands with Smith in getting him a big name.

Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) defeated #11 WBO contender Predrag Radosevic (30-2, 11 KOs) by a 2nd round knockout last Saturday night in their fight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Smith dropped Radosevic with a hard body shot in the 2nd. Radosevic then wisely stayed down for the full 10 count. Referee Steve Gray stopped the fight at 1:34 of the round.

“Liam, I think is getting better and better in every fight,” said Smith’s promoter Warren to IFL TV. “I did make a big offer to Kell Brook to come in weight to fight him. We did make an offer to Cotto to come and fight him. And obviously a fight I would like to make for him is Canelo if Canelo doesn’t fight Golovkin. I’m going to try and do that for him. You make these fights if you believe your fighter has a chance of winning them. At the end of the day, even if he didn’t, it’s not the end of the world. He’s a young man and I think he’s got a great future ahead of him. I do think he’s capable of winning these fights,” said Warren.

When asked who he wants to see Smith fight next, Warren said “Canelo or Kell Brook. They’re all good fights. They’re all fights the fans would like to see. They’re fights you can sell. They’re known fighters. We’ll see. Within the next week, we should know where we are,” said Warren.

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Canelo could be an attainable fight for Smith because he doesn’t seem to be eager to get inside the ring with the Golovkin right now. Warren’s fight offer to Canelo could be a way for the Mexican star to get out of having to fight Golovkin.

Canelo could tell the fight fans that he’s not a true middleweight yet, and that he wants to continue to fight in the 154lb division until he feels he’s fully grown into the middleweight division. However, Canelo will need to stop fighting at his normal catch-weight of 155lbs for him not to be seen as a middleweight because that weight is within the middleweight division.

Smith would have a chance at beating Canelo and Brook if the fights can be made. Canelo was already defeated by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013. In Canelo’s fights since then, he’s struggled against Erislandy Lara and Miguel Cotto. Those were fights that were very close. Canelo won them both but he could have easily lost if those fighters had made some minor adjustments in their game. Smith would need to use boxing skills along with his normal body punching for him to beat Canelo.

If Canelo takes the fight with Smith, he’ll have to deal with criticism from the boxing world. Up until now, Canelo has seemed immune to the negative things fight fans have been saying about him. He hasn’t cared that the fans have picked on him for fighting at 155lbs, and for failing to face Golovkin for the past two years. Canelo has ignored the criticism and continued to fight whoever he pleases.

Canelo has taken on some weaker opponents like Amir Khan, Alfredo Angulo and James Kirkland. Those guys were never meant to be competitive with him. They were clearly selected for Canelo to give him a name that is recognizable by boxing fans and who wasn’t going to be a threat to beating him. Smith would fall into the category of being an opponent that Canelo would have a good chance of beating for a payday.

It would also give him the chance to win another world title in a weight class that is one division below the one that Golovkin fights in. If Canelo can pick up the WBO junior middleweight title from Liam Smith, then he can use this as justification why he shouldn’t have to fight Golovkin. Canelo could tell the fight fans that he’s a junior middleweight and is holding down a title in the division. The fans would then have to accept it and wait until Canelo feels that he’s grown into the middleweight division in the future.