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

[pimp]

All gallaghers fighters fight the same way, plodding forward slow feet hands up, fit, work the body I'm surprised people on here actually thought smith had even a slight chance, I would like to no what his game plan was against canelo

[magnus]

For two years Smith has been pitted against vastly over-matched fighters - the bouts against Zoltan Sera and Jimmy Kilrain must have really helped him get to grips with someone of Canelo's quality.

I'm not suggesting he'd ever have beaten him, but it seems like he's not been given the opportunity to improve by gradually fighting better and better opposition until he got such an elite fighter. His world title opposition makes Brook's IBF reign look like hall of fame stuff.

Are u serious??? Their opponents were as bad as each others,jo jo dan? Wtf is he,frankie gavin got beat by bundu then gets brook. Liam put up a brave effort and, imo done better than brook did against GGG

Yes, I was being serious. You maybe think Jimmy Kilrain is better than Jo Jo Dan. You're clearly not a fan of Brook, but I was only using his (admittedly sub-par) world title opposition to highlight that Smith's was even worse.

Liam was brave, but my point was he may have done better had he not been fighting terrible opposition for two years prior to the Canelo fight.

[TheGman]

For two years Smith has been pitted against vastly over-matched fighters - the bouts against Zoltan Sera and Jimmy Kilrain must have really helped him get to grips with someone of Canelo's quality.

I'm not suggesting he'd ever have beaten him, but it seems like he's not been given the opportunity to improve by gradually fighting better and better opposition until he got such an elite fighter. His world title opposition makes Brook's IBF reign look like hall of fame stuff.

Are u serious??? Their opponents were as bad as each others,jo jo dan? Wtf is he,frankie gavin got beat by bundu then gets brook. Liam put up a brave effort and, imo done better than brook did against GGG

Yes, I was being serious. You maybe think Jimmy Kilrain is better than Jo Jo Dan. Or just have a desire to turn this into a Brook vs Smith thread, which wasn't my intention.

Nope iv no interest into turning this into brook vs smith,read back and u will see u mentioned the two before me so that lies with u buddy. They both have an absolute sh1te line of ppl they faced as champion but people on here seem to think brooks title defences were against world class operators even though gavin got beat at euro level by bundu the fight before. Liam put up a great effort and stood with canelo for 9 rounds and imo won two of them rounds but again ppl are saying he lost every round its all opiniom based i know.

[Horse]

Nope iv no interest into turning this into brook vs smith,read back and u will see u mentioned the two before me so that lies with u buddy. They both have an absolute sh1te line of ppl they faced as champion but people on here seem to think brooks title defences were against world class operators even though gavin got beat at euro level by bundu the fight before. Liam put up a great effort and stood with canelo for 9 rounds and imo won two of them rounds but again ppl are saying he lost every round its all opiniom based i know.

Brook's (black) and Smith's (red) 10 best results:

Shawn Porter
Vyacheslav Senchenko
Rafal Jackiewicz
Frankie Gavin
Carson Jones I
Matthew Hatton
Gennady Golovkin - (Lost)
Ionut Dan Ion
Lovemore Ndou
Michael Jennings

John Thompson
Saul Alvarez - (Lost)
Erick Ochieng
Steve O'Meara
Barrie Jones
Predrag Radosevic
'Jimmy' Kilrain Kelly
Jason Welborn
Mark Thompson
Gary McMillan


Brook's 10th best result is better than Smith's best result. Brook's opposition is far, far better than Smith's.

[TheGman]

Nope iv no interest into turning this into brook vs smith,read back and u will see u mentioned the two before me so that lies with u buddy. They both have an absolute sh1te line of ppl they faced as champion but people on here seem to think brooks title defences were against world class operators even though gavin got beat at euro level by bundu the fight before. Liam put up a great effort and stood with canelo for 9 rounds and imo won two of them rounds but again ppl are saying he lost every round its all opiniom based i know.

Brook's (black) and Smith's (red) 10 best results:

Shawn Porter
Vyacheslav Senchenko
Rafal Jackiewicz
Frankie Gavin
Carson Jones I
Matthew Hatton
Gennady Golovkin - (Lost)
Ionut Dan Ion
Lovemore Ndou
Michael Jennings

John Thompson
Saul Alvarez - (Lost)
Erick Ochieng
Steve O'Meara
Barrie Jones
Predrag Radosevic
'Jimmy' Kilrain Kelly
Jason Welborn
Mark Thompson
Gary McMillan


Brook's 10th best result is better than Smith's best result. Brook's opposition is far, far better than Smith's.

Did u read the post u commented on horse? I know ur not the sharpest tool in the box like but i did say iv no interest in turning this into a brook vs smith debate. I get it that ur in love with brook but no need to ram sh1t down our throats

[Horse]

Did u read the post u commented on horse? I know ur not the sharpest tool in the box like but i did say iv no interest in turning this into a brook vs smith debate. I get it that ur in love with brook but no need to ram sh1t down our throats

People like you shouldn't comment on the sharpness of others.

[magnus]

[/quote]

Yes, I was being serious. You maybe think Jimmy Kilrain is better than Jo Jo Dan. Or just have a desire to turn this into a Brook vs Smith thread, which wasn't my intention.[/quote]
Nope iv no interest into turning this into brook vs smith,read back and u will see u mentioned the two before me so that lies with u buddy. They both have an absolute sh1te line of ppl they faced as champion but people on here seem to think brooks title defences were against world class operators even though gavin got beat at euro level by bundu the fight before. Liam put up a great effort and stood with canelo for 9 rounds and imo won two of them rounds but again ppl are saying he lost every round its all opiniom based i know.[/quote]

That's why I wrote "which wasn't my intention". I added Brooks title resume in my original post to add some emphasis to my statement that Smith's opposition in the last two years was woeful preparation for the likes of Alvarez.

No-one thinks Brooks defences were against truly world class operators, apart from maybe Kell's mum. No-one has said that (unless I've missed that, in which case I apologise). They were better than Smith's though - Jo Jo Dan is better than Jimmy Kilrain. As is Gavin. As is Bizier. Still shite for a fighter of Brook's calibre, but less shite than Smith's opponents.

Liam did put up a good effort, I think I gave him one round and a share of another (can't recall which) - it could have been a better night for him had he fought better opposition in the fights he had immediately before Canelo.

[TheGman]

Did u read the post u commented on horse? I know ur not the sharpest tool in the box like but i did say iv no interest in turning this into a brook vs smith debate. I get it that ur in love with brook but no need to ram sh1t down our throats

People like you shouldn't comment on the sharpness of others.

People like me? U cheeky bastard u dont even know me

[jamesmcdonnell]

They both have poor defences of their titles,the governing bodies should make their top ten abit more tougher instead of having sh1te stacking the rankings

THIS it does say it all really , Governing bodies allowing anyone to fight for titles .

On a side note ,, watched it very carefully , and besides the obvious , Canelo to tough , hit too hard and to often , Man against a Boy and all that

The one thing that stood out for me was his footwork , He closed gaps , opened gaps and used his feet like a dancer compared to a slow footed , almost ackward clumsy like Smith ,, That was the difference in why Canelo could T off at will and smith could;nt ,, Smith looked uncomfortable throwing punches unless Canelo stood still right in front of him ,,, I've noticed it with a couple of Gallaghers fighters , , lousy footwork ..

Brook will do a lot better against Canelo than Smith , and he will beat Smith easy , based on footwork , or lack of from Gallaghers camp[/quote]

I thought the fight showed just how good Canelo really is, even his defence is good, he used great upper body movement to ride out the effects of the shots smith did Land.

I don't think he could beat GGG, but I think it will be a competitive fight if it ever happens, the big difference would be the weight of shot, GGG hits like a mule with every shot he lands with, and with less effort.

[crusader]

You thought his defense looked good? Smith was regularly landing when Canelo was against the ropes and had already cut him with a punch by the end of the second. The shots pinged off Canelo, but he was taking them when Smith let his hands go.

As usual, he also regularly shut his offense down and backed off for breathers, as he doesn't have the stamina to fight full rounds. I will say that his combination punching is excellent though.....probably among the best two or three in the sport right now.

[coneye]

All gallaghers fighters fight the same way, plodding forward slow feet hands up, fit, work the body I'm surprised people on here actually thought smith had even a slight chance, I would like to no what his game plan was against canelo

Seen a interview with Gallagher , at first i thought he did'nt have one , because he was going on about if they win they will be superstar , it will be massive and they'll fight Floyd next , he seemed more focused on floyd , then he let slip there plan , If Liam gets past the 7th rnd they'll try and knock him out Would of been a great plan if it worked

[coneye]

You thought his defense looked good? Smith was regularly landing when Canelo was against the ropes and had already cut him with a punch by the end of the second. The shots pinged off Canelo, but he was taking them when Smith let his hands go.

As usual, he also regularly shut his offense down and backed off for breathers, as he doesn't have the stamina to fight full rounds. I will say that his combination punching is excellent though.....probably among the best two or three in the sport right now.

Can see how it could look like Canelo was getting caught , but the way i read it he just did'nt care to much , it was man against boy , Liam just could'nt hurt him . Going back on the ropes he was just enticing Liam to throw and then countering when he stopped punching ,, whenever he wanted off the ropes it was just a switch of the angles with the feet and he was gone ,, , besides the size difference and strenght difference it was them feet that made it easy for Canelo ,, i reccomend all up coming boxers to watch that fight and learn about footwork ,, how to close the distance , and open it up with the feet ,, in fact Gallagher should watch and learn

[handsofstone]

Alvarez must have been wary of Smith's bodywork because whenever he backed on to the ropes he tucked up well,Liam had success with left hooks and right hands to the head but he never really let the bodyshots go as he knew there was no point in throwing them as Canelo was locked in tight

It was Canelo's punch variety that impressed me most along with how powerful he looked but the variety was great,leading with the left uppercut then bringing the right hand around the side,then leading with a right uppercut and hooking around the otherside,as for the bodyshots,well that finishing left hook downstairs was arguably one of the best body blows ive seen,it would've felled a heavyweight

[pimp]

All gallaghers fighters fight the same way, plodding forward slow feet hands up, fit, work the body I'm surprised people on here actually thought smith had even a slight chance, I would like to no what his game plan was against canelo

Seen a interview with Gallagher , at first i thought he did'nt have one , because he was going on about if they win they will be superstar , it will be massive and they'll fight Floyd next , he seemed more focused on floyd , then he let slip there plan , If Liam gets past the 7th rnd they'll try and knock him out Would of been a great plan if it worked

Well there you go

[wesshaw1985]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YouawjlqTmc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuvPg35tUWY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9qTwbhoq_M