The Manchester Arena hosts a Frank Warren promotion tonight and one of the bouts on the bill features Liam Smith defending his WBO light-middleweight title.
Liam became the first of the four fighting Smith brothers, from Liverpool, to claim a world title when he stopped the American fighter, John Thompson, back in October.
His opponent for this first defence is the Manchester fighter Jimmy Kelly, who is fighting for a world title in only his 17th professional fight.
Smith, the favourite to win, is already looking down the road at who he wants to fight next and has identified the Porto Rican legend Miguel Cotto as a possible opponent.
Talking about Cotto, ahead of the bout with Kelly, Smith has remarked,
‘Miguel Cotto is up there as one of the names I want to face.
‘Cotto’s been a great champion and to beat him will take me to that next level. I definitely believe I have what it takes to overcome him because my style would cause him some big problems.
‘I know Kelly is going to go into the ring thinking this is his big chance but I’m not going to give him an inch.
‘I have big ambitions and I’m not going to be foolish and overlook the threat he will bring. But there are some major fights for me if I come through this one.’
Twenty-seven year-old Smith enters this defence unbeaten in twenty-one fights but the champion needs to be wary of the threat Kelly presents, with the Kelly camp confident their man can do a job tonight, with Ensley Bingham, his trainer, remarking,
‘While we’ve been able to study tapes of all of Liam’s fights, there’s very little footage available of Jimmy.
‘That’s hugely to our advantage. Trust me, he’s just as capable. It’s just no-one’s seen it yet. A Jimmy Kelly victory would be an upset in most eyes, but not mine.
‘He’s got the better skills. His balance, movement, angles and punch-picking are exceptional. He also brings unbelievable core strength from all the wrestling he’s done.
‘He’s deceptively tough and durable for a tall lad and if the Smith camp think Jimmy doesn’t hit hard, that’ll play massively to our advantage. Jimmy’s very dangerous with either hand, and to head or body.’
Could tonight be Kelly?s night or will Smith just have too much for him?
It?s an intriguing fight and one I believe could go either way.
Smith Looks Beyond Kelly Defence
