Liam Smith

Canelo vs. Smith: Can Liam beat Saul?

by

canelo9965

By Dan Ambrose: WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) has a real opportunity to make a name for himself on September 17 in his fight against Saul Canelo Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Many boxing fans from all over the world will be tuning in to see the fight.

They won’t be tuning in because of the little known 27-year-old Smith. They’ll be watching so that they can see Canelo. He’s now the de facto new Floyd Mayweather Jr. of the sport as far as popularity and pay-per-view buys. However, Canelo is a very flawed star and not someone that can be trusted on to beat the best fighters at 154 and 160 the way that Mayweather could be counted on to beat the top welterweights during his long 20-year pro career.

read more

Luis Ortiz – Alexander Ustinov to fight on 9/17

by

1

By Patrick McHugh: Interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (25-0, 22 KOs) will be defending his title against challenger Alexander Ustinov (33-1, 24 KOs) in the co-feature bout on the Liam Smith vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez card in two months from now on September 17.

The Ortiz-Ustinov fight is still being put together by Golden Boy Promotions, but it’s looking very good like the two giant heavyweights will be on the card. It’s important for Golden Boy to have a solid co-feature bout because the fight card will be televised on HBO pay-per-view on 9/17.

read more

O’Sullivan wants Canelo vs. Smith winner

by

canelo9965

By Scott Gilfoid: #13 WBA fringe middleweight contender Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (22-2, 15 KOs) says he’d like to fight the winner of the September 17 fight between Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) and WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith. O’Sullivan, 31, hasn’t fought since being stopped in the 7th round by Chris Eubank Jr. last December in a WBA 160lb title eliminator bout.

O’Sullivan suffered an ear injury in that fight that he’s been dealing with. For O’Sullivan to get the winner of the Canelo-Smith fight, he would need to drop down to junior middleweight to take the clash.

read more

Is Canelo a coward or the real deal?

by

1-CANELO ALVAREZ 05

By Jaime Ortega: Saul Canelo Alvarez lately became criticized for ducking several boxers in the middleweight division. Legendary boxers like Hugo Cesar Chavez have called out Canelo publically, and degraded his boxing achievements on live shows. Canelo not only has received heat by his foes, but his own fan base feel disappointed and betrayed with his last fights.

Even though Canelo is mainly to blame for not fighting GGG, Oscar De La Hoyas Golden Boy promotions is partly responsible for dissing out what could very well be the fight of the year. In my opinion, the fight of the year is Andre Ward versus Sergei Kovalev — should be a tough war — hard to call a winner. But have no doubts Canelo versus GGG would be a titanic matchup with a quick result!

read more

BJ Saunders possible for Canelo vs. Smith undercard

by

saunders97

By Scott Gilfoid: Golden Boy Promotions are reportedly interested in getting WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) to fight on September 17 on the undercard of their fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s title match against unbeaten WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs).

The idea would be for the 26-year-old Saunders to get some visibility by fighting on the Canelo-Smith undercard on HBO PPV, so that the U.S fans get a chance to see him fight before Canelo faces him in the near future for his WBO 160lb title. Liam Smith and BJ Saunders are both promoted by Frank Warren.

read more

Canelo vs. Smith: Liam could surprise the Mexican, says promoter

by

smith0000

By Dan Ambrose: WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith’s promoter Frank Warren believes he has a real chance of pulling off an upset against former WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) in their fight in two months from now on September 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Warren sees the 27-year-old Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) as the best of the Smith brothers (Paul, Callum and Stephen), and he feels that he is a natural 154lb fighter. He rates Smith as having better punching power than Canelo’s last opponent Amir Khan, who moved up in weight from the welterweight division to face Canelo at a catch-weight of 155lbs last May in Las Vegas.

read more

Liam Smith can beat Canelo Alvarez, says Gallagher

by

smith1111

By Scott Gilfoid: Joe Gallagher, the trainer for WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs), believes his fighter has a very good chance of pulling off the upset by beating former two division world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1 33 KOs) in their fight in less than three months from now on September 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Gallagher thinks Smith, 27, can win as long as he soundly beats Canelo in a conclusive enough way to where he can’t lose by a decision or by knocking him out. Gallagher notes that Amir Khan recently fought Canelo last May in a fight in which Khan appeared to win many of the first five rounds of the contest.

The judges gave most of those rounds to Canelo, and they had Khan trailing in the fight at the time that he was knocked out in round six.

read more

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Liam “Beefy” Smith: The fight that nobody asked for

by

Image: Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs. Liam "Beefy" Smith: The fight that nobody asked for

By J. Calderon: In an utterly predictable move, Golden Boy Promotions announced that former WBC Middleweight Champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be facing WBO Jr. Middleweight Champion Liam “Beefy” Smith on Sept. 17. Already, there has been a massive backlash on social media, with fans bombarding Canelo’s page with GGG memes and claiming to have abandoned ship.

Now, the point of view of Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya and Vice President Eric Gomez is simple: maximum reward for minimum risk. “Canelo” has already denied being a full-fledged middleweight, so moving back to 154 lbs. and fighting for a Jr. Middleweight title makes perfect sense. However, “Canelo” has claimed to be unable to make 154 lbs since his win over a weight drained Alfredo Angulo in 2014.

read more

Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith = Tough sell on HBO PPV

by

canelo93

By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions have effectively steered their franchise fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) around a very dangerous obstacle in Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and now have the 25-year-old Mexican fighter in safer waters in challenging Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) on September 17 on HBO pay-per-view. Golden Boy hasn’t listed the price for the Canelo-Smith fight, but you’d have to assume that it will go for $60 to $70.

There’s got to be some kind of break even mark in terms of PPV buys. My guess it will be fairly high in the $300,000 range due to Canelo getting big money for each fight. The thing is, I don’t know if Canelo-Smith is a fight that can even bring in 100,000 buys. Golden Boy will need to really market it like crazy to get fans to want to pay for this. They might need to consider bringing Smith over to do a tour of the major cities in the U.S, as well as the UK. There will surely be some kind of HBO 24/7 Canelo/Smith series to try and attract some interest.

read more

Saul Canelo Alvarez faces Liam Smith for WBO 154lb title on 9/17

by

canelo765555

By Dan Ambrose: It’s now official: Saul “Canel” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) will be challenging unbeaten WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) on September 17 on HBO PPV from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was expected that Canelo would take on Liam Smith rather than the dangerous/difficult 154lb champions in Jermall and Jermell Charlo, as well Erislandy Lara.

By choosing Liam Smith, Canelo appears to be looking for the path of least resistance. It doesn’t exactly make Canelo look good that he chose not to fight IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, and then turning around and facing Liam Smith rather than one of the Charlo brothers or Lara.

It’s one thing ducking Golovkin, but then another thing to duck the Charlo brothers and Lara too. It doesn’t make Canelo look good in the eyes of a lot of boxing fans in selecting Smith rather than one of those guys.

read more