Wednesday 29 June 2016 15:14, UK
Liam Smith's big chance, Anthony Joshua's discipline, Tyson Fury's reputation and overpriced drinks. Here's Jamie Moore...
It's a great opportunity for Liam. He's a relatively new champion himself and certainly hasn't been tested at Canelo's level yet. But I've always rated Smith and think he's underrated. Some of the nice stuff he does is on the inside and goes unnoticed. Everyone thinks fighters who fight on the inside are not as intelligent as fighters who fight on the outside but that's not the case. You've got to be just as smart, slick and cute on the inside.
Liam works the body well. He likes those short uppercuts, too, and I think he'll give Canelo problems. It's a hard one to judge because Smith hasn't been at that level yet. It's an intriguing fight and I think he'll give a great account of himself. It isn't out of his grasp to win the fight but I really rate Canelo and he's proved time and time again that he's capable of pulling out top performances at a very high level.
I've always liked watching Mikey Garcia fight. He's great to watch and anytime someone who was good to watch has a break from the sport, they're always missed and sometimes it makes them more appreciated on their return. Floyd Mayweather wasn't the most exciting to watch but I think people appreciated him a bit more when he had those breaks in between bouts.
When fighters are away they get the chance to rest their body and evaluate themselves. Garcia is a welcome addition to a buzzing sport now. It's hard to tell what he'll be like because he's moved up in weight. If you've got to move up then there's nothing you can do about it because boxing is dangerous enough without boxing at the wrong weight. Will he be as effective at a higher weight? We don't know yet but Jorge Linares moved through the weights and he probably put in his best performances at the higher weights. Garcia could do the same.
Joshua had to show a lot of composure and he'll learn from the times he went a little bit wild with the shots. He wasn't missing consistently but he was off target on a few occasions. From start to finish in general, though, he kept disciplined and didn't try to rush the stoppage by jumping all over him and attempting to overwhelm him. I like the way he paced the fight.
He switched well from going in up close and throwing short uppercuts to going straight back to the jab. It was actually an uppercut turned into a jab that dropped Breazeale towards the end. I was very impressed with Joshua's work and what's more, he's still in the early stages of learning and that's a scary thought. If they can keep moving him in the right way with the right fights with time to develop into a better fighter then he's really going to be something because he's already an incredible fighter.
There's no evidence to suggest he is drinking out there and even if he was, we can remember fighters like Ricky Hatton, who weren't affected by regularly going out drinking during his time away from training camp. Every single individual is different and Fury is famous for doing things spontaneously without thinking about what people's opinions or reactions are to it. So basically, this latest stuff doesn't surprise me in the least.
I don't judge him or have an opinion on it. I started laughing when I watched the video because it's just typical Fury. I think people have to get used to the fact that that's him and he's always done things in that way. In his last fight, he beat the No 1 heavyweight in the world and thereby became the No 1 heavyweight in the world so if he's always done it, he'll be looking at it from the point of view of if it isn't broken, don't fix it. He probably isn't even being as wild and lavish as it looks and is just doing it to wind people up.
The most expensive was probably only about £100 but that was for five cocktails in Selfridges. I was absolutely wounded by that because I didn't think it would be so expensive.
I remember the most memorable round I bought, though. Me, Nigel Travis and our missuses had just been to watch Amir Khan fight Breidis Prescott back in 2008 and we came out of the Manchester Arena and walked into Panacea. I bought four vodka and diet cokes and it came to £28. Then Nigel dropped them.
He was walking away from the bar with all four in his hand. My mate, who didn't know he was carrying them, pushed him from behind and he dropped them on the table, smashing them. We never even tasted them. We didn't get the opportunity to buy a replacement round either because the doorman decided Nigel had fallen over drunk and kicked us out!
That story is worse than paying £100 for the round in Selfridges because at least we got to drink those ones...
