Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach believes Liam Smith can cause Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez some problems when the pair meet on Saturday 17th September in Dallas.
Canelo (47-1-1, 33 KOs) is dropping back to 154-pounds to challenge Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) for the WBO junior middleweight title on HBO pay-per-view from AT&T Arena in Arlington, Texas.
Roach worked the corner of Miguel Cotto last November, when the Puerto Rican star lost a twelve round decision to Canelo in Las Vegas.
Smith has used Roach’s facilities at the renowned Wild Card Gym in the past and looks to be returning to Los Angeles in preparation for his fight with Alvarez.
Roach and Smith’s trainer Joe Gallagher have formed a rapport over recent years which benefits fighters from both gyms.
“There’s no quit in him, he called me the other day asking if he could train in my gym and I said ‘no problem,’ they are trying to get sparring partners.”
The Hall of Famer explained he will investigate the possibility of opening the door for Smith to spar with the same fighters Miguel Cotto used in the build up to his fight with Canelo last November.
Roach views the contest as being more evenly matched than the fight which takes place a week earlier, with IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook moving up by thirteen pounds to challenge WBA, WBC, IBO, IBF middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin at the O2 Arena in London. Golovkin and Canelo have a verbal agreement to face each other in September of 2017.
Freddie continued: “[Canelo vs. Smith is] a great fight. It’s more competitive than Golovkin and Brook!”
