On Saturday, 21st September, Liam Smith will take on Josh Kelly at Wembley Stadium as part of a stacked Riyadh Season event, involving all three major domestic boxing promoters in the UK. BOXXER and their CEO, Ben Shalom, of course among those promoters, however, without representing Smith.
The card will be headlined by Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois for the vacant IBF World Heavyweight Title. Regular updates and the latest news relating to the event can be found here.
After almost a year out of the ring, Smith will be looking to return to winnings ways in front of potentially the biggest crowd in British boxing history as Eddie Hearn revealed to MMA Fighting that His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh, will be aiming for the absolute maximum capacity at the national stadium. The boxing world eagerly awaits a reaction from Carl Froch on this news.
35-year-old Liverpudlian middleweight, Smith, is currently a free agent after his most recent multi-fight agreement he signed with promotional outfit, BOXXER, came to a close.
In an interview with JNMEDIAUK, Smith confirms that he is no longer associated with Shalom whatsoever.
“I’m not with Ben [Shalom] and I certainly won’t go back with Ben either. I was a free agent, I got offered fights off Frank [Warren], Eddie [Hearn] and for this card. This card was the one that made a load of sense to me.”
‘Beefy’ will challenge Wasserman Boxing-signed face of Channel 5 boxing, Kelly, following defeat in the rematch with Chris Eubank Jr, which aired live on Sky Sports under the BOXXER banner.
Smith made quick and efficient work in his first fight with Eubank Jr, drawing matters to a fairly early conclusion by way of a TKO victory in the fourth round. As a result of his major win, Smith revealed in his recent interview JNMEDIAUK that Shalom showed a vested interest in him. However, admits that he did not receive the same energy following his tenth round TKO loss to Eubank Jr in the rematch.
“I beat Eubank, he [Shalom] asked me to go for a meal the next day. I lost to Eubank, I’ve never heard from him since.”
After initially describing that he was “delighted” to put pen to paper with BOXXER in the press release that announced their new partnership in 2022, the relationship between Smith and Shalom seems to have suffered a major breakdown, with Smith finishing the BOXXER-pertaining segment of the aforementioned interview without mincing his words when describing Shalom.
“He’s a piece of s**t.”
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