Liam Smith (c) vs. Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez - September 17th 2016

[Rexob]

Well thats the difference between British world champion and a proper world champion!

[forcefraser]

At top level you need power enough to make the other guy think twice. Smith didn't have it

[samwbr]

Will FW be criticised the Hearn , throwing his fighter into an unwinnable fight away from home? Or will h be congratulated for securing a big money fight on the great stage, risking one of his champs giving him the opportunity to test himself against the best out there.

Judging by the last two interviews in Smiths previous fights if Frank didn't make a big fight for him he was going to leave.

Think he's off to Matchroom anyway now after that.

[smiling assassin]

Will FW be criticised the Hearn , throwing his fighter into an unwinnable fight away from home? Or will h be congratulated for securing a big money fight on the great stage, risking one of his champs giving him the opportunity to test himself against the best out there.

Judging by the last two interviews in Smiths previous fights if Frank didn't make a big fight for him he was going to leave.

Think he's off to Matchroom anyway now after that.

Yeah same here. I think frank had the same feeling to, and made this big fight as a last pay cheque from smith

[lefty]

Watching some more footage of both guys- I feel Canelo might take Liam out with a left hook to the liver. One thing that stands out when watching Smith fight (which I think another poster alluded to somewhere) is that Liam likes to fight with that high guard but yet his arms don't look long enough to protect his body and his elbows don't look tucked either.

He looks wide open to body shots and Canelo does throw wicked body shots alongside some lovely uppercuts.

I had to do it

[Andrew]

Based on what I'm seeing here Smith is really no better than British Domestic Level and owes his World Title win to careful matchmaking. Someone like Vanes Martirosyan would beat him based on what I'm seeing here.

I've said that ever since he got the belt, Vanes is pretty solid, him v Liam Smith would have been a pretty good fight an

[Andrew]

Well thats the difference between British world champion and a proper world champion!

[Andrew]

Will FW be criticised the Hearn , throwing his fighter into an unwinnable fight away from home? Or will h be congratulated for securing a big money fight on the great stage, risking one of his champs giving him the opportunity to test himself against the best out there.

Judging by the last two interviews in Smiths previous fights if Frank didn't make a big fight for him he was going to leave.

Think he's off to Matchroom anyway now after that.

Yeah he got smashed up as I expected but FW delivered for him. Had him from the start got him a WBO belt whilst only being British level and got him a fight against probably the biggest name in the sport.

Course he may go to Eddie but he won't do any better. He'll get him a toy belt at home then shift him off to fight Lara etc in the states and get beat again.

[samwbr]

Judging by the last two interviews in Smiths previous fights if Frank didn't make a big fight for him he was going to leave.

Think he's off to Matchroom anyway now after that.

Yeah he got smashed up as I expected but FW delivered for him. Had him from the start got him a WBO belt whilst only being British level and got him a fight against probably the biggest name in the sport.

Course he may go to Eddie but he won't do any better. He'll get him a toy belt at home then shift him off to fight Lara etc in the states and get beat again.

He'll have go another route now Alvarez has his belt (assuming he doesn't vacate). Will Hearn be better placed to get those fights?

[samwbr]

Alvarez still considered lineal champ according to Buffers script.

[Boxerbeetle]

Disappointed Liam didn't really try to work Canelo's body - that's always been the key to beating him imo. Still, he did reasonably well, just not on the same level unfortunately.

[handsofstone]

Gutted for Smith,he just couldnt put a dent in Alvarez,i had him losing every round,there was a couple of rounds when he backed Canelo up on the ropes and teeing off on him but it was always at the end of the rounds and it was too little too late really and even then Canelo done a great job of making him miss,Smith's usually bull like but he looked quite weak in there compared to Alvarez and he couldnt find the gaps to work the body,it was a struggle in there

Ive got to give Canelo credit though i thought he was excellent,he looked strong,he mixed his shots up well with superb accuracy,i dont think there's any other 154 fighters who could get Liam out of there,the left hook downstairs to finish things absolutely creased Smith and no way was he getting up on time

Hopefully Smith made some fans on the global stage because he did give it a good go but leaping up from European level to elite level was a bridge too far

[tony1234]

Hope he doesn't go down the Paul Smith route now with endless six rounders on the stacked Hearn under cards against Latvian bin men waiting for another title shot

[handsofstone]

Watching some more footage of both guys- I feel Canelo might take Liam out with a left hook to the liver. One thing that stands out when watching Smith fight (which I think another poster alluded to somewhere) is that Liam likes to fight with that high guard but yet his arms don't look long enough to protect his body and his elbows don't look tucked either.

He looks wide open to body shots and Canelo does throw wicked body shots alongside some lovely uppercuts.

Well played Lefty

[THEBUTCH]

Yep, a quality fight ending body shot from Alverez.

Smith competing for nine rounds is a good effort considering the jump up in class.

[Horse]

Well thats the difference between British world champion and a proper world champion!

Nonsense.

Smith was the weakest world champion that we had by far.

[Horse]

Hopefully Smith made some fans on the global stage because he did give it a good go but leaping up from European level to elite level was a bridge too far

When did Smith ever get to European level?

He was barely above English title level.

[handsofstone]

Hopefully Smith made some fans on the global stage because he did give it a good go but leaping up from European level to elite level was a bridge too far

When did Smith ever get to European level?

He was barely above English title level.

I know he never fought at actual European level but Thompson and Radosevic were Euro level

[Horse]

I know he never fought at actual European level but Thompson and Radosevic were Euro level

Neither are European level.

To say a fighter is at European level; they should have at least beaten one top 30 world ranked fighter or a few top 50 ranked fighters.

Liam Smith's record was ridiculously weak for a world title holder.

[tobyh5]

Not sparred since August 12th

[handsofstone]

I know he never fought at actual European level but Thompson and Radosevic were Euro level

Neither are European level.

To say a fighter is at European level; they should have at least beaten one top 30 world ranked fighter or a few top 50 ranked fighters.

Liam Smith's record was ridiculously weak for a world title holder.

If thats the case was Martin Murray not a European level fighter until he outpointed Bursak?

[Horse]

If thats the case was Martin Murray not a European level fighter until he outpointed Bursak?

Murray had already beaten two world class opponents on my scorecards before then.

Liam Smith gets far too much respect on this forum.

He has the worst record of all of the Smith brothers.

[lefty]

Not sparred since August 12th

Yeah not ideal. I guess they couldn't turn down the opportunity though and the payday that came with it. There was no chance of a new date either due to it being Mexican independence day and how important that date is for Canelo to fight on alongside Cinco De Mayo. He just had to grin and bare it unfortunately. It's not exact,y going to help with your timing though like he mentioned after the fight.

[MightyWarrior]

Brave effort, but It was like a man trying to hold off a tank with a pea shooter.

[MightyWarrior]

Did Joe really think Liam would win ? Saying before hand that Liam was about to become a superstar, and had no time for fighters like Kell Brook came over as pretty dumb.