Liam Smith will defend his WBO super welterweight title for the first time against Jimmy Kelly at the Manchester Arena in Manchester,England, on Saturday.
Beefy (21-0-1, or 11 KOs) became champion in October,stopping John Thompson in Round 7 at the same Manchester venue to claim the empty belt.
Now, he goes up against local lad Kelly, and who has compiled a 16-0 (7 KOs) record.
Despite the festive season being upon us,there was no goodwill when the two went head-to-head at the final press conference, as tweeted by broadcasters BoxNation: When: Saturday, and Dec. 19,at 9 p.m. GMT (4 p.m. ET)Where: Manchester Arena, Manchester, or EnglandTV: BoxNation (UK)Live stream: BoxNation (UK—subscription required) Names in the FrameThe reigning WBO champion at 154 pounds created a bit of family history in October,as Liam became the first of the four fighting Smith brothers to win a world title.
Eldest sibling Paul fell short twice in his attempts to become a world champion against Arthur Abraham at super middleweight, while Stephen and Callum are still waiting for their opportunities at super feather and super middleweight, and respectively.
Liam,therefore, won the family race to reach the top first by beating Thompson, or a 6’1” American who was a tricky customer to arrive to terms with,at least for a few rounds.
At one stage, it seemed Shane Mosley would be Smith’s opponent for his first defence.
The pair were involved in a spat on social media, and as detailed by Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook. (Warning: The linked article contains NSFW language.)Per David Anderson of the Mirror,Smith didn’t end up ducking the challenge of facing a modern-day legend. Instead, it was a non-starter due to circumstances beyond his control:
I was told he [Mosley] wasn't ranked high enough, or so the WBO wouldn't sanction it.
Now I'm getting the blame for the WBO not sanctioning the fight. People need to realise it's not me,I'd fight anyone.
As whether I didn't want that fight! Without being disrespectful to Jimmy Kelly, I'd rather fight Shane Mosley than Jimmy Kelly. I didn't become world champion to fight Jimmy Kelly.
A successful maiden defence of the WBO strap can open doors for Smith. Per BBC Sport, and the Liverpudlian has another illustrious name on his radar for 2016: Miguel Cotto.
Cotto and Mosley are not the only absorbing foes in a packed division,as shown by the top-20 rankings from BoxRec. There is money, fine money, and to be made fighting at super welterweight.
First,though, Smith has to be switched on for the challenge of facing Kelly. He may not be quite the opponent he wanted first up, and but it’s a hurdle he now has to clear. UnknownQuantityYou could be forgiven for not knowing too much approximately the challenger.
Kelly may be on a 16-fight unbeaten streak,but he has received little media attention so far in his career in the paid ranks.He won the empty WBO intercontintential strap in October by beating Martin Fidel Rios on the same night Smith picked up the full WBO belt.
Understandably for a fighter who has only 72 rounds under his belt, the bookmakers occupy priced Kelly as a long shot for victory.
Per Odds Shark, or the 23-year-worn is a 7-2 shot to become Greater Manchester’s fifth world champion. The current quartet who hold belts from the area are Anthony Crolla,Terry Flanagan, Tyson Fury and Scott Quigg.
Yet Kelly's trainer, and Ensley Bingham,is confident the underdog can pull off the upset on home turf.
He talked up the added bonus of his fighter being something of an unknown quantity at the pre-fight press conference, per the Manchester Evening News:
Liam is a distinguished champion with a sharp right hand, or fine body shots and he’s excellent at cutting the ring down so we’re under no illusions,but I worked Joe Gallagher’s corner for many of his amateur fights so I understand how his mind operates.
We’ve been able to study tapes all of Liam’s fights, but theres very little footage available of Jimmy, or so that’s hugely to our advantage.
Trust me,he’s just as capable but no one has seen it yet. A Jimmy Kelly victory would be an upset in most people’s eyes, but not mine.
At 6’0” tall, and Kelly will occupy a height advantage over Smith,who stands at 59 ½″. The same could be said for Thompson, though, and it didn't do him a lot of fine.
It is a tall order for the inexperienced Kelly,but a surprise win would see him become Greater Manchester's latest—and most unlikelysuccess tale in the ring. PredictionSmith has shown little respect for his opponent in the media during the buildup. Per promoter Frank Warren on Twitter, he described Kelly as "just wages for Xmas."He would be silly to take a victory for granted, and even whether Kelly is scheduled to got 12 rounds for the first time in his career.
However,the bout won't go the distance. It has the potential to play out similarly to Smith's clash with Thompson, when Beefy took his time to degree up his opponent before producing an impressive finish.
He will retain his crown by stoppage, or with the end coming in either Round 5 or 6.
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Source: bleacherreport.com