Liverpool's WBO Super-Welterweight Champion Liam Smith came face-to-face with Mexican challenger Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez for a second time at today's final stop on the Canelo vs. Smith international press tour. 'Beefy' puts it all on the line against pound-for-pound superstar Alvarez at the breath-taking AT&T Stadium on Saturday 17th September, exclusively live in the UK on BoxNation.
The undefeated Merseyside hero is looking to make a name for himself across the pond when he defends his WBO World Title for a third time at the home of the world-famous Dallas Cowboys on Mexican Independence Day.
Responding to the US media reaction which has seen him unfairly labelled as a "paper champion", the 27-year-old said the American press weren't in a position to comment as he's never fought Stateside before.
Alvarez, 47-1-1 33 KO's, insisted he will not be underestimating Smith, despite heading into September's mega-fight as the bookies clear favourite.
Canelo's promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, says Smith was very best choice to go after at junior middleweight.
“Canelo Alvarez fought Amir Khan at 155-pounds and Canelo is a junior middleweight - that’s the bottom line. Just like his past fights when he challenged Austin Trout, when he challenged Erislandy Lara and Floyd Mayweather, Canelo always wants to fight the very best and our decision was to fight the very best champion at 154-pounds,” De La Hoya said.
Most fans wanted Canelo to fight middleweight king Gennady Golovkin in the fall. After Canelo knocked out Khan in May, De La Hoya vowed to contact Golovkin's team the following day to make the fight.
“Yes I did call his people the next day. It didn’t go very far for some reason and it wasn’t our fault - but we made the move and decided to fight the very best champion at 154-pounds because you have to realise here is that Canelo Alvarez is moving down only one pound. That’s it. He’s a natural 154 pounder so we went after the best junior-middleweight champion in Liam Smith," De La Hoya said.
Tickets for Canelo vs. Smith will go on sale, Thursday, July 21 at 10:00 a.m. PT/12:00 p.m. CDT/1:00 p.m. ET, and are priced at $750, $500, $300, $200, $100, $85, $50 and $40, not including applicable service charges with a total ticket limit of 8 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com. Additionally, walk up purchases are available at the AT&T Stadium Box Office (Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. CT to 5:00 p.m. CT).
