WBO junior middleweight champion Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) made his case that he deserves a big money fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez tonight in crushing challenger Predrag Radosevic (30-2, 11 KO) in the 2nd round in their fight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. Smith used powerful body shots to hurt and stop Radosevic in the 2nd round.
The ending came suddenly with Smith landing a beautiful left to the body that put Radosevic down on all fours. Radosevic started to get up but then continued to crouch until he was counted out by the referee at 1:34 of the round. It was perhaps for the best that Radosevic stayed down because he would have been taken out sooner or later by Smith’s powerful body shots. Smith’s body punching was similar to his younger brother super middleweight Callum Smith.
After the fight ended, Smith spoke of wanting to take on the top names in the junior middleweight division. His promoter Frank Warren said per Fight News, “We want Canelo and we think Liam Smith is capable of beating him. He’s capable of beating Cotto and Canelo, that’s the next level fight we want.”
Arum also mentioned Kell Brook as an opponent he would like to match against Smith if he would come up in weight. Brook is scheduled to fight WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas in the summer. However, if Brook wins that fight then he should be free for a fight against Smith if he’s up to it.
“I would want [Miguel] Cotto for him. He’s number one mandatory for Liam. Liam Smith is in the top three or four world champs in this country,” said Smith’s trainer Joe Gallagher.
Cotto, Brook or Canelo would be great options for Smith if he can get one of them. If not, then one of the Charlo brothers would be a good opponent as well. The brothers both hold world titles at 154. If Smith could pick off one of them and beat them, then that might lure Canelo or Cotto into a fight against him. However, he might also scare them away if he defeats those guys.
