N17 hit nail on head. There's like a little merry-go round here in action. Smith wants Canelo but only prepared to fight him for trillions of pounds or a fighter who is deemed to havs no pulse. Saunders wants Canelo but not prepared to be in shape to take the fight on short notice, wants paying trillions of pounds also. Smith and BJS don't want to fight each other because of lack of money. Smith has zero interest in rematching Ryder. Shows zero ambition to fight any other champion, yet he always says he wants the best fights he can get, all the belts etc etc. I agree with N17 its embarrassing, there just holding the belts to ransom at the moment. Smith is the worse offender of the two, he has no ambition at all, zero. Took what seemed 3 years longer then required to fight for a world title and since becoming the so called No1 SMW in the world, has fought one career middleweight and Ryder who he was a massive underdog and looks about half his size.
I would like to add, Hearn should take a lot of responsibility here also, after this pandemic kicked in he said "no more easy fights for anybody". Hearn said boxing is suffering and they need to make the big fights, he works with both Smith and BJS, there would be DAZN and Sky PPV money involved, Canelo is signed with DAZN... how hard can this be? DAZN are paying Canelo FFS. Is Hearn honestly saying he can't make either Canelo Vs Smith/BJS or Smith Vs BJS? I can only assume Smith and BJS must be asking for money that is just ridiculous and if that's the case then Hearn should shame them publicly and also remind them "no more easy fights" when they return. Where would Smith go if Hearn said "fine, you won't fight then you can move on"? He couldn't really go anywhere.. FW? Of course FW would sign him but Smith would be basically asked to do what we expect him to do now and fight Canelo for probably less money. Hearn should start basically forcing these two to fight by saying he will let them go if they are not willing to be involved in the biggest fights, don't misunderstand me, of course they will need paying well but I don't think it's unreasonable for a promoter to say to either of these two... "this is a career high payday, you can either take it or go and sign with Mick Hennessy". It's not as if Matchroom, Sky Sports Boxing, DAZN will be losing much, BJS hardly fights and Smith is not stepping up either. HEARN DO YOUR JOB AND ACT LIKE A MAN WITH SOME NUTS AND STOP TRYING TO BE BFFs WITH YOUR FIGHTERS.
I really hope Ryder gets it after that ridiculous robbery against Smith. That would be karma at work. He will go over and give it his best unlike the other two who claim they want the biggest fights then go missing when it’s offered. I still can’t believe Saunders turned it down.
Smith has the potential to be involved in big fights at LHW. There's probably no reason he couldn't fight Bivol for example. You heard Bivol mentioning that fight a while back, even potential at 168lbs. Smith just isn't interested. I mean SMW is ridiculously weak at the moment in general. Wouldn't surprise me if he fought Willie Monroe Jnr next, another career middleweight.
The ideal scenario is Smith vs Saunders at the 02 in October/November and the winner should surely be in pole position to fight Canelo in the new year.
Spot on.... Smiths main problem is he is the worlds worst weight bully and can only make the weight for 10 minutes per year... Just fight each other ffs
I think he now realises that him and BJS are not the only options else where ,thus forcing his hand to take less Rather see the Ryder fight if I'm honest than Smith
It would for me. Not just the fight, the build up, everything, it would garner much more interest and certainly generate more discussion. Everyone accepts a Canelo win is a foregone conclusion against Ryder. Not the case with CEJ, his chances are fancied moreso. Makes sense to have Ryder or Smith as they won’t shift as many tickets with no fans not an issue. Quigley is unknown outside boxing circles but he’s been with Golden Boy a long time and he mentioned Canelo in his last post fight interview so it’s been in the works although hard to argue he deserves it.
Out of all the potential match ups available BJS has the best chance followed by Smith, Ryder, Eubank and Quigley. Eubank and Quigley will get absolutely battered worse for Eubank as he will absorb more. Ryder will do his best but will be beaten to the punch he is not on Canelo's level. Smith has the size advantage and in all honesty was having an off night against Ryder, he has proved against Groves he is better than that. BJS has the ability to outbox Canelo if he can sort his life out which is looking increasingly unlikely and if Hopkins is to be believed his chance has passed. I'm sure Golden Boy are happy to have him out the way with a semi passable excuse.
