Liam Smith takes on Jessie Vargas at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night as he looks to move into world championship contention for the first time since losing his light-middleweight title to Canelo Alvarez in 2016. Last year was a mixed bag for the 33-year-old as he lost to Magomed Kurbanov in his first fight since December 2019 before beating Anthony Fowler at home in Liverpool.
In his last fight, Smith won the WBA International light-middleweight title, for which the two fighters will compete in this fight. The bout is long awaited after numerous failed attempts to get into the ring but boxing fans will finally get to see two of the light-middleweight division's biggest entertainers enter the ring here.
Now entering his mid thirties, Smith will be hoping that a win here can accelerate his push to enter contention for a world title fight before retirement. Vargas is 32 himself and will be in a similar position and it will be interesting to see how two desperate fighters will compete in an atmosphere such as the iconic Madison Square Garden.
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Ahead of the fight, Smith echoed the fans' view that a fight should have taken place already between the two and that the result could prove pivotal to both fighters' careers, he told DAZN in the build-up: “Fight week is going very well. It’s very exciting. This fight should have happened two, maybe three years ago,"
“It's a long time coming, an itch that needs scratching and it’s become a little bit personal now. Both our careers are on the line, we’re not getting any younger, and it’s a must-win if we want to win titles again.
“I’ll answer the questions about his career on Saturday night, because if he’s got one foot out of the door already then he’ll quickly jump all the way out the door. A win puts me straight back into contention for world title fights. I should have had a cleaner year. I should have won in Russia [against Magomed Kurbanov], but the decision went against me. I’m still here and I’m still a big name in the 154lbs division.”
