Liam Smith is confident he will stop pound-for-pound star Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez when he defends his WBO light-middleweight title on September 17 in Texas.
Smith (23-0-1, 13KO wins) will make the third defence of his WBO belt he claimed against American John Thompson in October last year and will look to pull off arguably the biggest upset by a British boxer on foreign soil since Lloyd Honeyghan's victory over welterweight superstar Donald Curry in 1986.
The 27-year-old has made two routine defences - beating Jimmy Kelly and Predrag Radosevic - but despite fighting in a state which Alvarez's promoter Oscar De La Hoya called "his second home", Smith feels that he won't be overawed by the occasion at the AT&T Stadium.
"I've been doing (promoter Frank Warren's) head in, begging for a big fight. I jumped at the chance at this fight," Smith told the media at their press conference in London.
"I look at Canelo, I don't need any more motivation. I don't look at the odds or papers. This is the biggest fight for me. I'm going there to stop him, if I don't it won't be through a lack of trying!"
When questioned on the reports in the United States media calling the Liverpudlian a "paper champion", Smith's trainer Joe Gallagher responded strongly and believes the Mexican has made a huge mistake in facing Smith.
"I expect them to give Liam a fair shot, but it's probably a true fact we need to get the stoppage to win," Gallagher said.
"Alvarez is a very, very good fighter, you only have to look at his record to see who he's been in with. The Mayweathers, the Cottos, but I do feel Alvarez and Golden Boy have made a huge mistake. I feel they should have taken the GGG (Gennady Golovkin) fight and got paid well.
"The best man will win and the loser will go back to Mexico."
Current Lineal and Ring middleweight champion Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs), who is also a former WBA and WBC titleholder in the 154lb division, is coming off the back of a brutal KO victory over Smith's British counterpart Amir Khan on Cinco De Mayo weekend.
Talk after that victory leaned towards an anticipated middleweight showdown against Gennady Golovkin, b ut the 26-year-old paid full respect to Smith and will not take the fight lightly.
"Liam Smith is a great champion, he is very hungry and has great power and we know what we have in front of us," said Alvarez.
"We will prepare like never before and I can assure you this, we will give the fans what they want to see."
Source: PA
