By Daily Sports on December 4, 2017

Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith (26-1-1, 14 KOs) says he’s going to be the next opponent for WBO junior middleweight champion Sadam ‘World Kid’ Ali (26-1, 14 KOs) after he won the WBO title last Saturday night with his victory over Miguel Cotto (41-6, 33 KOs).

When told that Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn is looking to hijack Sadam Ali for his fighter former IBF welterweight champion Kell ‘Special K’ Brook to face, Smith replied with, “He’s just being a beaut.”

Smith’s promoter will likely insist that his fighter face Ali next in his first title defense. Smith defeated Liam Williams by a 12 round decision last November to become the mandatory challenger for the WBO junior middleweight title.

Smith was hoping Cotto would hang around the sport long enough for him to challenge him for the WBO belt instead of to fight for the vacant title against the highest ranked contender below him, which is #2 WBO Magomeda Kurbonov.

Smith will be a tough opponent for Ali if he takes the fight. It would be hard to predict a winner based on how both guys looked in their last fights.

Sadam Ali hasn’t yet said whether he’ll vacate the WBO title or defend it. He’s leaving it up to his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions. During the post-fight press conference last Saturday, Oscar De La Hoya seemed to be undecided about whether Ali will keep the WBO junior middleweight belt or vacate it.

De La Hoya said Ali has a lot of options available to him at 147 and 154. However, if Ali going to stay at 154, those options aren’t as extensive as De La Hoya might think. It means he’s going to need to defend against Smith in his next fight if the World Boxing Organization orders him to defend against Smith.

•Photo shows Sadam Ali.

Source Daily Sports

Posted December 4, 2017

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