By Carlos Boogs
Joe Gallagher, trainer of WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13KOs), believes Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (47-1-1, 33KOs) will regret his decision to fight Smith in two weeks.
Canelo, in his first fight at 154 since 2013, will challenge Smith for the WBO junior middleweight world title on September 17th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Earlier this year, the Mexican superstar was ordered by the World Boxing Council to face IBF/IBO/WBC/WBA middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin in the fall.
That fight fell out when Canelo vacated the WBC middleweight belt and announced he was stepping back to junior middleweight for a fight with Smith. Golovkin was later named as champion by the sanctioning body.
Gallagher realizes that Canelo and his handlers picked Smith because on paper he posed less of a threat - a decision the veteran trainer believes they will regret.
"I think things happen for a reason. Obviously like I said at the press conference, I think they looked at Liam Smith, looked at his title, looked at his resume and thought 'that will do for now.' But I do feel that after being around Liam, and seeing how confident we are, [they are now thinking different]. I do feel they made the wrong decision by not taking the Triple G fight," Gallagher told BoxingScene.com's Declan Taylor.
Smith is widely viewed by the fans as a huge underdog in the fight. Gallagher understands why the public is overlooking his man.
"If you look at the world stage and look at who Alvarez has beaten - he lost a decision to Mayweather, he beat Cotto, Lara, Trout - so his resume is unbelievable. People look at Liam Smith's resume and think 'who's he beaten?' But he is a world champion and now we have to go over there and show that he's a good world champion, a proper world champion and come away with that world title fight. We will give Alvarez a hell of a fight," Gallagher said.
