Liam Smith is more than ready to answer the challenge posed by Tim Tszyu. The Australian darling has mentioned the possibility of Smith, along with Danny Garcia and Tony Harrison, as his next opponent, and the Liverpool man is willing to travel to Australia to tackle the emerging star.
Smith, who was desperately unfortunate to lose to Magomed Kurbanov in Russia back in May, has long identified Tszyu as a potential opponent. Despite the setback against Kurbanov, Smith had planned to call out the son of Kostya Tszyu even if he was victorious in his most recent fight.
“It’s the fight I’ve wanted and he was going to be my next target if I would’ve beat Kurbanov,” revealed Smith in an exclusive interview with DAZN . “Going into a fight with Tszyu after a win gives me a lot more strength when negotiating terms but I’m willing to go over there and see what he’s all about if they can make me a fair offer.”
A win over Tszyu is a result that will return Smith to the world level platform that he occupied for a number of years. In Tszyu, Smith is potentially facing a fighter who has been earmarked as the man to represent Australian on the global stage. Smith isn’t sure if his 154lbs rival is quite at that level.
“If he beats me then there’s no doubt he’ll go on and do well for himself but I don’t think he’s ready yet. There’s so much hype with him in Australia so you can see why they might want to move him fast. PPVs, big stadium fights and the fact his dad is a legend over there. He’s been built into a star over there but he’s still a few years away if you ask me.
“Who’s his best win? It’s probably Dennis Hogan and does that tell you he’s world class? Not for me. Jeff Horn was finished and his last fight was a late substitute. It could be different when I get in the ring with him but from what I’ve seen so far, I’d be more than confident going in and beating him.”