Callum Smith Thinks He Will Be ‘Too Big’ For Canelo Alvarez
Callum Smith expects his size and ability to help him triumph over Canelo Alvarez.
Smith defends his WBA (Super) super-middleweight title in addition to challenging for the vacant WBC super-middleweight title when he faces Alvarez on Saturday.
Alvarez is no stranger to fighting above the middleweight division as his last outing saw him knock out Sergey Kovalev in November last year to capture a light heavyweight title and become a four-division champion in the process.
That said, Smith believes it will be a different story when Alvarez faces him.
“In my opinion, no, he’s not a super middleweight,” Smith told ESPN. “Yes, he’s been there before, fought Kovalev, but if you look at the champions at super middleweight, they are all big lads. There’s only so much size your ability can make up for.
“We saw it with [Vasiliy] Lomachenko [against Teofimo Lopez]. I believe that will be the case for Canelo against me, I will be too big for him. But I’m not just a big lump, I’ve got skills and ability, too; I’ve shown I belong at a world level. If I can use the size and ability, I’ve got the beating of Canelo at 168 pounds.”
While the argument can be made that Kovalev was not in his prime against Alvarez, Smith sees many things he can take from the latter’s performance in that fight.
“There were parts of the fight where he wasn’t special and Kovalev was a bit lazy, which helped Canelo, and maybe that was his plan to get him late on,” Smith explained. “Kovalev is a very good fighter, a tough fighter, but Canelo did what Canelo does and deserves respect for that win. But he didn’t dominate every round against Kovalev, and there are positives to take from it for me, and it shows you have to respect his power.
“Stylistically, I’m different, and I believe I can do what it takes to beat Alvarez if I perform to the best of my ability.”
More than anything, the Liverpool native plans to use his size to his advantage compared to other considerably bigger opponents that Alvarez has faced.
“You have to utilize what you are good at, and it’s no good being the taller boxer if you are not going to use it to your advantage,” Smith added. “I’m sure he can cut the ring down, and I will have to work on that. But I believe I have reached this level because of my skills and ability… I can beat him. I think he’s a better 160 fighter than he is at 168, and a good big ‘un beats a small little ‘un.”
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