Liam Smith: "The message to Ben Shalom, BOXXER, Sky Sports is, I beat Hassan (Mwakinyo), that's my homecoming, my announcement on Sky Sports, and then I want my huge fight next"; watch Smith face Mwakinyo live on Sky Sports on Saturday
Thursday 1 September 2022 07:04, UK
Liam Smith believes Saturday's fight against Hassan Mwakinyo is but a stepping stone towards another world title shot, and has not forgotten about a prospective showdown with Chris Eubank Jr.
The 34-year-old makes his BOXXER debut in front a home crowd at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena as he returns to action on UK soil having beaten Jessie Vargas via a 10th-round TKO at Madison Square Garden in April.
Where others have let their focus stray in view of a title opportunity, Smith has promised no such slip-up on a crucial night in his career.
"I've had that with many opponents, Anthony Fowler, I've had that in my career and I've always said I'm from too good a family and too good a gym to overlook anybody," he told Sky Sports. "You'll see that by the shape I'm in Saturday night.
"I know this will give Hassan an extra 10 per cent fighting me, I've sparred with him in the past and I know he's going to come. This is his world title fight, he takes all my rankings.
"For me, this puts me up in the rankings maybe up into one of the mandatory shots or if the belts become vacant then I'll challenge for a vacant title.
"This is all on my path to fighting for a world title again."
Mwakinyo is 20-2 (14 KOs) in his career having hindered Sam Eggington's progress in 2018, and arrives riding a three-fight knockout streak.
"He's a dangerous opponent, heavy handed, has had some good wins and good wins on British soil but I'm not any of the other Brits, I'm the best 154 in Britain and I'm hoping to become a two-time world champion," added Smith.
"I fully intend on dealing with Hassan the way I should, the way I feel I should be level wise, I think I'll do a good job and show I'm levels above this level."
Once he has handled business with Mwakinyo, Smith is in no mood to hang around as he seeks the biggest fights on offer.
"I wanted a huge fight [when he joined BOXXER] regardless of who it may be, whether it was a world title, Chris Eubank or anything," he said.
"I felt I was in a position, was on a roll, I'm still on a roll for a big fight and I've got one back at home.
"Whether Eubank comes next or not is up to other people, everybody knows I'd have taken that fight next, I'd take it next again if he beats Conor Benn.
"I'll take that whenever, I'll fight Chris Eubank tomorrow so it's out there, they know that, Chris knows that, we'll see what comes after Hassan."
Eubank is scheduled to meet Benn in a catchweight fight at the O2 Arena on October 8, nearly 30 years after their fathers fought for the second time in their WBC super-middleweight world title clash.
"The message to Ben Shalom, BOXXER, Sky Sports is, I beat Hassan, that's my homecoming, my announcement on Sky Sports, and then I want my huge fight next and I want to push for a world title challenge, push for Chris Eubank, Conor Benn if Conor Benn wins, I want a huge fight," said Smith. "I want a fight people are talking about."
