Joe Smith Jr says he’s ready for a Canelo Alvarez fight

WBO light heavyweight titleholder Joe Smith Jr is fresh off his stoppage win over Steve Geffrard this past weekend but knowing that his name has been mentioned for a potential fight against Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez, Smith says he’s ready and willing to make it happen. Smith tells Sky Sports that he’s looking forward to getting back into the gym and that he’ll be an even better fighter the next time out, believing he’s ready for anybody out there, so why not boxing’s top dog.

“If Canelo wants to come and fight me, I’m ready for him. That’s the fight I want. Everybody would love to see that fight - it would be a big deal.”

Smith’s Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has recently acknowledged that Canelo has expressed interest in possibly facing Smith this year and has mentioned two of the biggest fight dates of the year (May and September) as when he’d like to stage that kind of fight should it come together.

As of now Smith is still largely considered fairly crude when it comes to his craft but there hasn’t been much question about his blue-collar approach to boxing that when combined with his sheer physical strength has served him pretty thus far. Whether or not that would be enough against someone like Canelo is an entirely different question, but Smith at least says that’s what he wants to prove.