BoxRec

Liam Smith: I'd Fight Tim Tszyu in Australia Tomorrow if Deal is Right

Former WBO junior middleweight world champion Liam Smith is ready and willing to fight unbeaten Tim Tsyzu, who called for a showdown with the British fighter.

Last week, Tszyu returned to the ring in Newcastle and blasted out late replacement Steve Spark in three rounds.

In the aftermath of the win, Tszyu named Smith as the one opponent he would really like to face next - because of his status as a former world champion who shared the ring with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.

Smith, 32-years-old, is eager to secure the big opportunity to bounce back after losing a twelve round decision to Magomed Kurbanov.

Despite losing on the road in his last outing with some questionable scoring, Smith has no problem with traveling over to Australia to face Tszyu.

“Yeah, my management team are discussing it now and I’ll leave it to them and whoever else and if there’s a deal there to be made, I’m sure it will be made,” Smith told Boxing Social.

"From my point of view, I think no questions would be asked of whether I would fight him or whether I’d come to Australia to fight him. I’d fight him tomorrow. I’d fly to Australia tomorrow as long as the deal was right.

“Whether it was to do with the mention of me, whether it was people saying ‘take the fight p-ssy’ it’s like how could that be mentioned towards myself? Would I go to Australia? Of course I would I’ve been to Russia, Mexico, the States. Put a fight to me that makes sense for me, I’ll go and that’s exactly the same with Tim Tszyu. Tim Tszyu is no-one different ... he’s no-one I fear, no-one I’m scared of so if it makes sense for me, I’ll be on the night flight there.”

“I think he’s developing very, very well and I think he will develop to be a good fighter and I’ve said that on record. I think they’ve matched him perfectly and his career’s gone (up) and his opposition’s gone the same way. With that being said, who’s his best win? Dennis Hogan was probably his best win and by all accounts it sounds like Dennis Hogan might retire after this.

“A fight with the ones mentioned will answer a lot of questions of Tim Tszyu’s path. If he beats me, you’ll say is ready for it. If he doesn’t beat me he’s not ready. I think he will end up a good fighter. I do think now, put somebody OK in front of him, he’s shown he’s not hard to hit, I think you’ll get a few different answers on Tim Tszyu.”

I feel like Liam is just cashing out where he can.

Hope he got paid decent in Russia, and he gave it a good fight,

He can give 90% of 154'er and 160'er a decent fight.

Would make good fight. Would show how much Smith has got left and if Tszyu has got the capacity to move up.

Good fight but would he fly across the world to quarenteen for 2 weeks? Tough prep for a big fight,

Would be a good fight , although personaly i have Smith giving him a spanking ,,, Not to say Tim has'nt got potential , just that he's jumping a level or two .. But its a fight Tim needs IF he has ambitions , Don't hold your breath though ,,

coneye wrote: ↑14 Jul 2021, 07:11 Would be a good fight , although personaly i have Smith giving him a spanking ,,, Not to say Tim has'nt got potential , just that he's jumping a level or two .. But its a fight Tim needs IF he has ambitions , Don't hold your breath though ,,

does danny lewis still beat tim?

id say tim's opposition is better than kurbanov's was, and not only wasnt he spanked by liam, he actually beat liam. tim crushed hogan, who arguably did enough to beat munguia. that is pretty good. liam didnt do nearly as well vs mung


i'd love to see tim vs liam, think tim beats him, a lot fresher and imo more powerful

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑14 Jul 2021, 07:16

coneye wrote: ↑14 Jul 2021, 07:11 Would be a good fight , although personaly i have Smith giving him a spanking ,,, Not to say Tim has'nt got potential , just that he's jumping a level or two .. But its a fight Tim needs IF he has ambitions , Don't hold your breath though ,,

does danny lewis still beat tim?

id say tim's opposition is better than kurbanov's was, and not only wasnt he spanked by liam, he actually beat liam. tim crushed hogan, who arguably did enough to beat munguia. that is pretty good. liam didnt do nearly as well vs mung


i'd love to see tim vs liam, think tim beats him, a lot fresher and imo more powerful

Hav'nt seen Daniel Lewis for a while , but when he was relativly active i think he would of handed Tim his arse ,, Tim did crush Hogan but it can be argued Hogan was well and truly a spent force ,, Tim has potential , but for me i just can't get on the bandwagon , when i don't think he's fought any in prime guys his own size ,, thats why i was looking forward to Tim -- Zerafa ,, but Tim --- Smith would do it for me ,

Anyway , they have challenged Smith and he's accepted , so see what happens , personaly i think they will offer him peanuts when it should'nt be because that would be a sell out and a good ppv seller in OZ , probably sell a few in Britain has well ,,

do you think kurbanov would spank tim too? or that prior to facing liam kurbanov had fought better opposition than tim?

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑14 Jul 2021, 07:30 do you think kurbanov would spank tim too? or that prior to facing liam kurbanov had fought better opposition than tim?

Like to answer that one ,, BUT i would be guessing not seen kurbonov fight ,, But based on him beating Smith , i would say he is probably a step up fror Tim has well , I would suspect he's progressed through the Russian ranks with better sparring and more competetive fights all along ,, but like i said , can't say not seen him fight .

See how they go Tims dad lives in Russia i'm sure the son of Tzyu making a trip to his dads homeland to conquer the local boy would sell very well over there ,, in fact it would sell well in Aust .

Lots of money for Tim to make on Aussie ppv if he can progresivly beat these fellas ,, but you never know until you have a go .

good fight this would be i think be a great fight for tim particularly to gauge him , i thought tim win against hogan was a really good win he last win against stevei not great performance dont reckon , liam is dangerous around that top 10 also taller man be really interesting fight

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑14 Jul 2021, 05:58 I feel like Liam is just cashing out where he can.

Hope he got paid decent in Russia, and he gave it a good fight,

He can give 90% of 154'er and 160'er a decent fight.

Of course he is. Best chance of a payday now anything meaningful is becoming out of reach.
Good scalp and experience for Tszyu I guess.
Also Liam does bring a fan base to have a look at Tszyu.

Stylistically I think this is a terrible fight for Smith. He was getting hurt in Russia And Tim seems to have inherited Kostyas power. Tim can also fight on the inside which Kostya couldn't. Obviously Kostya is far better from range. I don't see where Smith has an advantage in the fight. Tim would walk right through him and cripple him with body shots.

Smith is looking for well paid work and would be a big step up for the Aussie

So would I if the deal was right