By Patrick McHugh: WBO junior middleweight champion Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) realizes that he’ll be a big underdog in his fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) on September 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Smith doesn’t care that the odds makers have the 25-year-old Canelo as the favorite because he plans on showing them that they’re wrong. Smith says he’ll too mentally strong and too tough for Canelo when the two of them meet up in two months from now.
Canelo figures to win the WBO title to add to his collection. By selecting Smith, it gives the impression that Canelo sees him as an easy mark, because he could have selected one of the Charlo brothers or Erislandy Lara to fight for their titles.
It would have made more sense for Canelo to fight one of them because those are all fighters that fight fight in the U.S and are well known with the casual boxing fans.
“I’ll leave no stone unturned. This is my only chance,” said Smith to Boxnation. “If I lose, it’ll be because I lost to a better fighter. It won’t be for lack of trying. It won’t be because I’m not in great shape. I’m a massive underdog in this fight. That’s going to give me the fear factor in training. I don’t mean fear as in scared. I know I have a massive chance, and a win would make a massive statement. He’s the biggest name in boxing at the moment. I’m excited. This is my chance. This is what we’ve been asking for,” said Smith.
Smith says he may do some training in the United States to get ready for the Canelo fight. That might help a little. Smith already has the kind of talent that will make it tough on Canelo. Smith is a hard body puncher and has a good chin. Those factors that will help Smith beat Canelo.
Smith will need to be able to handle Canelo’s punching power, because he can hit hard, especially against an opponent that is there to be hit. Canelo only fights in spurts though due to his stamina problems. If Smith can force Canelo into a dog fight where he’s forced to defend against incoming shots for three minutes of every round, then the fight can be won.
Smith would probably need to be able to throw over 100 punches per round to wear Canelo down, but it’s possible. Canelo doesn’t have the engine to fight at a pace like that, and he might end up getting knocked if Smith is able to throw a lot of shots for the first nine rounds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-DEH6gQwqM
When asked why he’ll beat Canelo, Smith said, “Because I’m too mentally strong, too tough and too good.”
This would be a ral shocker if Smith beats Canelo, but it’s very possible. Canelo has already shown himself to be vulnerable in his fights against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Amir Khan, Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara. Canelo can’t be coming into the fight with the greatest confidence right now due to him arguably ducking the fight against Gennady Golovkin.