Definitely not retired; he was angling for a fight with Opetaia, before Opetaia signed on to fight Glanton. https://www.ringmagazine.com/news/c...g-champion-jai-opetaia-5DlifeRWHKARMX9myAMqne We will see him back this year for sure; I just hope it is against a world level opponent, as lets face it Smith has pretty much cleared out all the domestic Cruisers.
I think he said (1) there aren't the fights at CW (2) I'm guessing the money plays a part, sure he mentioned fighting Okolie again at HW. Scroll down this Sky Sports link below where talks for 1 minute. https://www.skysports.com/boxing/ne...ys-trainer-joe-gallagher-its-a-matter-of-time
Maybe when CBS held the belt, but now it will be more difficult for him to land the big fights and I'm sure he would fight Opetaia.
I always got the same vibe from him, if he was shouting for the opetaia fight it wasnt a very loud shout, more like a very faint whisper For me, It feels too early to rate opetaia so highly just due to the opponents he’s faced but he would absolutely destroy billam-smith of that I’ve no doubt
Opetaia would be a very painful matchup for CBS this stage of his career. His war of attrition style would only mean a brave but early night in defeat, style wise a very, very bad fight for him.
