Liam Smith has one eye on the future –– despite having a second fight with Chris Eubank Jr. on the horizon.
The former WBO super welterweight champion dazzled last month as he took out the Brighton middleweight inside four rounds at Manchester’s AO Arena.
Smith now looks set to face the son of former two-weight world champion Chris Eubank in a return after the 33-year-old activated the contracted rematch clause.
But ‘Beefy’ is looking at a potential showdown against a man who has a lot in common with him.
That man is Billy Joe Saunders.
Saunders, like Smith, has a win over Eubank Jr. and he is also a two-weight world champion.
The ex-ruler at middleweight and super-middleweight, who has been out of the ring since May 2021 when he was on the wrong end of an eighth-round stoppage against Saul Alvarez, another old adversary of Smith, has mentioned a potential fight with the Liverpudlian.
“If they said ‘Do you want to face anyone?’, I’d rather face Liam Smith [in my] first fight back,” Saunders said when speaking to iFL TV recently. “It’s about, for me, to get in the ring with somebody who’s obviously going to bring something to the table where I question myself and think I’ve got to be on my game.”
And Smith responded to Saunders’ comments with a positive outlook.
“You know me, Billy, talk to me,” Smith responded on social media. “I’m open to anything. What weight [are] we talking?”
Details regarding Smith’s contracted rematch against Eubank Jr., a clause which was activated on Valentine’s Day, have yet to be made public by promotional outfit Boxxer, while Saunders is set to continue discussions with promoters in the coming weeks regarding his return.