By Edward Chaykovsky
Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (47-1-1, KOs) is paying no attention to the claims that Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13KOs) will be an easy assignment.
Canelo drops back to the junior middleweight division to challenge Smith for the WBO championship on September 17th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The Mexican superstar views Smith as a very tough competitor who will present him with a hard challenge. Canelo fought another British fighter in his last time out, when he knocked out Amir Khan in six rounds back in May at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Canelo has been studying some tape of Smith and says the British champion is going to come to fight.
"I’ve seen a couple of his recent fights, his style is a come forward style. He takes punches really well, he’s very strong, very powerful, he likes to fight. It’s going to be a great fight," Canelo said.
"There’s always negative criticism out there, especially in this case. Just because no-one really knows his name, he’s not a big name in the United States, it doesn’t mean he’s a bad fighter. There are always going to be critics who put people down, put him down. We’re going to fight and, come September 17, see if he’s the fighter he says he is."
Canelo believes his recent run of British opponents has made him more popular with the UK audience. If Canelo wins next month, there is a possibility that he might face his third consecutive British opponent, with WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders under consideration for a date in December.
"Amir Khan has a lot of fans, a big following and you get to see my name become more popular to the (UK) fans out there. I appreciate my international fans all over the world," Canelo said.
