Rewatching his previous bout against John Ryder in November 2019 gets Callum Smith upset, and rightfully so.
Smith knows he made mistakes in that fight, which is one of the reasons some people are questioning if he's as good as advertised. But heading into the fight of his life on Saturday at the Alamodome against boxing's biggest star and perhaps the best in the sport, Canelo Alvarez (live on DAZN globally, excluding Mexico), Smith believes we'll see a different version — a version that's the premier fighter at 168 pounds.
"Mundo" feels in his heart that if he's at his best, there's no way Alvarez beats him.
"It's a warmup performance (against Ryder), and people just pick holes in it," Smith said on DAZN's Boxing With Chris Mannix podcast. "All your good fights before on undercards are just forgotten about as if that's your real version of you. (They are) just flukes.
"I know what I'm capable of and what I can do. I know the version of me that turned up in my last fight I'll lose (against Alvarez), there's no two ways about that. But the best version of me turns up, I believe I win."
Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs), the WBA (super) middleweight champion and WBC "Franchise" titlist, has only fought at 168 pounds one time, a vicious third-round knockout win over Rocky Fielding in December 2018 at Madison Square Garden to win a secondary belt. Smith (27-0, 19 KOs) understands what Alvarez brings to the table. The Englishman holds a seven-inch height advantage, and on fight night will weigh more than Alvarez. Smith feels there are weight classes for a reason, and Alvarez's best showings have come at 160 pounds.
"He's a special fighter," Smith said. "He's in the position he's been in because of what he's done previously. I just think stylistically, I think I'm hard to beat. I think the best Canelo Alvarez is 160. I'm at 168. I think there are a lot of big people at 168. I'm big, but I believe I got the skills to go with that as well. I just think tactically, and stylistically I'm in this fight to win it."