Liam Smith would fight Omar Chavez but needs to sharpen his skills, says trainer Joe Gallagher
Wednesday 26 June 2019 12:44, UK
Liam Smith is open to a battle with Mexican Omar Chavez, but will first seek a warm-up fight, says trainer Joe Gallagher.
The former WBO super-welterweight champion completed a dominant stoppage win over Sam Eggington in March and has now been linked with a fight against Chavez, a battle-hardened 29-year-old with a number of upset wins on his record.
Trainer Joe Gallagher insists Smith is willing to fight Chavez, although he wants 'Beefy' to sharpen his skills ahead of this risky encounter.
"I see Omar Chavez is calling him out, he's fighting at the end of June himself, so I don't think that fight with Liam will happen until September time," Gallagher told Sky Sports.
"I have said to Liam, you will need to get out. Let's try and get out on the Dillian Whyte undercard, even if it was just an eight-rounder, a 10-rounder, if you've got to fight Chavez, because Chavez is fighting at the end of June.
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"You can't be out of the ring all that time. Possibly a slot on the Whyte undercard is an option still for Liam before he fights Omar Chavez, from what I'm hearing."
Older brother Stephen Smith has picked up two wins in the last two months after recovering from a serious ear injury and might target the winner of Francesco Patera's European lightweight title defence against Paul Hyland Jr in Milan on Friday night, live on Sky Sports.
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"Stephen Smith has just had another win, another six-rounder out," said Gallagher. "He's going to be out again in July. That will be three bouts on the bounce. He just needs to get some momentum going after being out for a long time, 17-18 months with a split ear injury.
"Maybe look at the winner of this weekend's fight with Hyland and Pedraza, you just never know. They're just options there, but the main thing is we've got to keep him active and busy."
