Fight Preview: Canelo vs Smith | GGG vs Szeremata

What a great weekend of boxing to end the year with Canelo vs Smith in a Super Middleweight world title bout, while Golovkin will also be back in action in his 21st middleweight world title defence!

In this fight preview I’ll be giving my thoughts on both fights, my predictions and how to watch.

GGG vs Szeremeta

First up, this weekend will be on Friday 18th with GGG (40-1-1, 35 KOs) up against fairly unknown Polish fighter Szeremata (21-0, 5 KOs) in Florida for the IBF world middleweight title. The Kazakh fighter of course will very much be expected to add another KO to his resume, but with signs of aging in his last fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, the vast majority are expecting Golovkin to still put on a dominating display and make a statement to Canelo and Smith who will fight the next day.

For those unsure about the undefeated Polish fighter, it will be some task regardless, even if he is the younger man. Here are some highlights of him in action below to give you an idea of what we can expect:

For GGG he is a once in a generation fighter with his only defeat coming to Canelo, and even that could be argued against! It’s extremely difficult to see past the Polish fighter getting a result in there with him on Friday night.

Prediction

I think you know what way I’m leaning with this one already and that is a Golovkin win in Florida by KO for his 21st world title defense. I’m expecting something of the same nature as when he faced Steve Rolls last year, but it will be interesting to see if there is any ring rust for the Kazakh fighter. Golovkin KO.

Make sure to check out my boxer style analysis on Golovkin here for more insight on him.

Canelo vs Smith

Now for the big event on Saturday night as Canelo (53-1-2, 35 KOs) takes on a huge challenge in Callum Smith (27-0, 19 KOs) in Texas for the WBA (super), Ring Magazine and vacant WBC world super middleweight titles. This is a fight I’m sure the majority of fight fans will be watching, and it will be fascinating to see how Canelo (5ft 7) will fare against the much bigger man in Smith (6ft 3).

Interestingly enough, Canelo fought Callum’s brother Liam in Texas at Light middleweight in 2016 and it’s crazy to think he has moved up in weight to fight at super middleweight and light heavyweight since!

Ever since his second fight with GGG, we have seen Canelo turn into a bit more of a pressure fighter as he relentlessly attacks the body of his bigger opponents. This something I imagine will be the case against the much bigger Smith on Saturday who should probably be fighting at light heavyweight in my opinion.

In terms of Smith, he has a devastating left hook which Canelo will have to be careful of and although Callum Smith is the bigger man he does like to fight on the inside. If I was in the Smith camp I would be very weary of getting caught up close with Canelo as we have seen what he did to the likes of Fielding and Kovalev. Check out some highlights of Smith in action below to see his left hook and finishing in action.

Team Canelo clearly feel they can exploit something in this fight but if Smith decides to use his reach and catch Alvarez with a counter shot as he tries to close the distance, it will be fascinating to see who comes out on top!

Prediction

I expect Canelo to push the pace similar to what he did against Kovalev, as he waits for his opportunity to attack the body or throw the left hook. I think Smith will try to stay on the outside and use his jab, but I think eventually he will be dragged into a close affair that will suit Canelo. This has been a year of some big upsets, but I think Canelo will do enough in a close contest! Canelo SD

Make sure to check out my boxer style analysis on Canelo to see more tactics the Mexican employs!