Panel: How Liam can beat Canelo

Liam Smith will be a huge underdog when he takes on Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez on Saturday.

So how can he pull off a famous upset win over the Mexican favourite?

We asked The Panel of fighters and trainers what ‘Beefy’ could do to trouble the biggest star in the States, who has only lost to Floyd Mayweather…

Johnny Nelson

Look at Canelo’s only defeat and it’s clear that the slick boxing and unorthodox style of Floyd Mayweather is probably the only way to beat him. Amir Khan was getting the same sort of success until that lapse of concentration lead to him getting clipped. But if you want to fight fire with fire when you’re in with Canelo, it is going to need someone like Gennady Golovkin, who can stand there and take his power.

I just don’t think Liam Smith has that slick boxing style to give Alvarez masses of problems like Mayweather did, so unless he’s much stronger than I think he is – and I have been hearing good things – I am not sure he can just stand there like Triple G would. The big problem is Liam’s style is too similar to Alvarez’s.

Matthew Macklin

I think Liam is stylistically perfect to take on Canelo and hopefully beat him. Canelo likes to do things in little bursts and then take a breather because he is always tight at the weight and is always conserving energy. One thing we do know is that Liam will not stop, from the first to last bell.

‘Beefy’ is not a concussive one-punch knockout specialist, but he hits solid enough and he is a very good body puncher, but more importantly, is constantly on you. He always makes you work and Canelo doesn’t want to do that so he has got the ideal style to upset him. I think that will beat …

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