By Dan Ambrose: WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith says he won’t be going into the ring afraid of Saul Canelo Alvarez when the two of them meet two months from now on September 17 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Smith says he’s going to be going into this fight like Floyd Mayweather Jr. did in his match against Canelo three years ago. Mayweather wasn’t afraid of the younger, stronger and bigger Canelo. He easily beat Canelo on two of the judges’ scorecards and was held to a draw on the third scorecard.
Smith is the underdog against Canelo, but he plans on pulling off the upset by taking the fight to the inside and working over the Mexican fighter’s body like no one has done before.
“I think there’s only Floyd Mayweather has gone in there and not feared him. I’m the same,” said Smith to skysports.com. “I’m not going there in fear and awe; I’m going there to beat him. I’m not changing my mentality. I’m not going to give my title away. I’m going there to make a name for myself, not really in America but in the world of boxing.”
That would be a big shock to the boxing world and to Golden Boy Promotions if Smith goes in there and pulls off the upset by handing Canelo his second loss of his career on September 17. Canelo and Golden Boy chose not to take a much bigger money fight against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) in order to take the fight against Smith, which some feel is a ducking move on Canelo’s part.
If Canelo can’t even beat a hand-picked opponent like Smith, then that doesn’t bode too well for the 25-year-old Mexican’s future. There are very few fans who see Smith as being in the same league as the other top junior middleweights in the division. The fat that Golden Boy chose to match Canelo against Smith rather than the arguably more talented fighters in the division suggests that they feel that this is a fight that Canelo can absolutely win.
If Canelo can’t win this fight, then Golden Boy will need to figure out what they can do with him. They would be stuck between a rock and a hard place with Canelo if he can’t beat Smith, because Golden Boy likely won’t match him against the likes of Demetrius Andrade, Erislandy Lara or the Charlo brothers. Canelo probably can’t melt down to 147 to take advantage of the lighter welterweights.
“I’m going there to stop Canelo. I’ll cherish every bit of it. You have to know me as a person to know I’m not fazed by that [the stadium],” said Smith.
If Smith plans on knockout on Canelo, then he should focus his punches to the body because that’s the only area where he’s seemed vulnerable in his career. Austin Trout hurt Canelo with a body shot, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. got his attention with a body shot in their fight three years ago. Smith might have luck if he can get inside and throw to the body.