By Edward Chaykovsky

WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13KOs) is not holding back when it comes to the subject of Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (47-1-1, 33KOs).

Smith will defend his belt against Canelo on September 17th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

For the first time since September of 2013, when he lost a twelve round decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Canelo is fighting at the junior middleweight limit of 154. His last five fights have taken place at a catch-weight of 155.

In the opinion of Smith, Canelo returned to 154 in order to save face for rejecting a fall fight with WBC/IBO/WBA/IBF middleweight king Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin. 

Golovkin was the mandatory challenger to Canelo, who held the WBC title at 160. After knocking out Amir Khan in May, Canelo called Golovkin to the ring and told him, face to face, that he was ready to fight him in the fall. Not long after, Canelo vacated the WBC title and then the sanctioning body made Golovkin the beltholder.

A few days after dropping his middleweight belt, Canelo announced that he was heading back to 154-pounds to challenge Smith.

According to Smith, he was always confident of landing Canelo, because he views the scenario of dropping down to 154 as a face-saving excuse with the critics who are angered over the Golovkin fight falling out.

"I would have taken the fight at 155. I can make 155 and I can even do 156. The negotiation was [for] 154 and I understood why because he has to save face. To look respectful for him to give his middleweight title up - he has to come back 154. That's why I was always confident I could get the fight," Smith said during a Q&A session on Reddit.

"It would be embarrassing if he ducked Golovkin and didn't [fight me at 154]. I knew he had to come to 154. From their point of view, he beats me and is back as a champion at 154 [and then he can say] - 'I can make 154 I'm not fighting GGG at 160.' That was their excuse."