The unbeaten British No 1 super middleweight in the world finally gets his shot at the fight he – and his boxing family – have dreamed of
The boxing year concludes on Saturday with unbeaten 30-year-old British underdog Callum Smith, the No 1 super middleweight in the world, having the opportunity to create a genuine legacy with victory over Mexican Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, the No 1 boxer, pound for pound, in front of a 15,000 crowd in Texas.
For Smith, it will represent a huge challenge with the vastly experienced Canelo, an aggressive counter-puncher, at his peak.
There has, however, been utter respect between the two fighters this week. Towering over the 5ft 10ins tall Canelo in the build up, 6ft 3ins tall Smith has re-enforced his view that this is “the moment I have been waiting for to prove that I belong at elite level”.
The Liverpudlian puts his WBA and Ring Magazine belts on the line, with the vacant WBC crown also on the table. Smith, unbeaten in 27 fights and one of four boxing brothers, has craved this contest with Canelo, the most watched boxer in the world.
The audience in Mexico for Canelo fights regularly exceeds 30 million, the flame-haired fighter one of the country’s most adored sports stars. Canelo, from a boxing family himself and the youngest of seven brothers who have all boxed professionally, is a four-weight world champion who has lost just once in a 56 fight career, on points to Floyd Mayweather Jr – when he was aged 23, seven years ago.
Family ties are writ large at this event. Smith’s older brother, Liam, lost a world title defence against Canelo three years ago at light middleweight and, without citing revenge, victory for the Liverpudlian would be very sweet on many levels.
“It’s going to be massive, the biggest win of my career without a doubt,” Smith told The Daily Telegraph in an exclusive interview this week. “It would be huge for my family as a whole. They’ll be with me on the night and they probably believe in me more than I believe in myself. They’re my biggest fans and have wanted this fight for me for a long time. They want to see me go out there and win it. It’ll just be huge for the family and adding to what we have already achieved. A win over Canelo Alvarez will be alongside all the other stuff we have achieved and more that I can go on to achieve after this. I’m not seeing it as revenge for Liam at all, but in the aftermath I’m sure we would celebrate.”
The one person in the Smith family who struggles with boxing is his mother, Margaret, who makes herself scarce when any of her four boys – Callum, Liam, Stephen or Paul – have walked to a ring. “Even though my mum hates us boxing, I think she knows it’s the fight I’ve wanted for a long time. I think she knows I’ve finally got what I wanted. I think she knows as tough as boxing is, it’s easier to do when you’re training for something you want to do. She’s probably seen me happier these weeks than previous. The minute I say I’ve retired and done with boxing she’ll probably be best pleased but I think she knows how much I want this fight. So she’s happy for me definitely.”
Smith must use his height and reach, pressing his jab – and power on the inside – to match Canelo, whose attacking mindset will force him forward. Imposing his will on Canelo is likely to be the toughest assignment Smith has faced in the ring, but of the six British fighters who have met Canelo (Liam, Ryan Rhodes, Matthew Hatton, Amir Khan, Rocky Fielding), the quietly-spoken Liverpool fighter has the greatest chance of springing an upset.
“Having trained to beat a specific person like Canelo Alvarez is exciting, to try and outsmart him and be the better fighter on the night, is thrilling,” explained Smith. “The sessions have been brutally hard but the technical side has been really enjoyable. I now have to go out there and have the best performance of my career.”
Callum Smith vs Saul Canelo Alvarez is live on DAZN in the UK