Fearless Callum Smith Eager to Prove the Doubters Wrong Against Canelo Alvarez

Callum Smith almost can't believe it's happening.

The 30-year-old WBA and The Ring magazine super middleweight champion defends his titles against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Smith (27-0, 19 KOs) will have his work cut out for him. Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) is one of the best and most popular boxers on the planet. Additionally, the 30-year-old Mexican is one of the sport's most successful and highest-paid athletes.

Smith wouldn't have it any other way.

"Yeah, it's massive. It's a huge opportunity. It's the biggest fight possible for anyone in my weight division, and anyone around my weight division," Smith said. "After I became a world champion...the next goal was to be involved in the biggest fights possible, and this definitely is that."

Canelo vs. Smith is the last superfight boxing match of 2020, and it's one the fighter from Liverpool found himself able to say yes to simply because he kept believing it was possible.

"It was on and off...that, along with the pandemic, and all the other stuff going on...deep down I probably never thought he'd fight this year, but there's always a chance," Smith said.

Smith kept training and hoping the tantalizing prospect of facing one of boxing's biggest superstars wasn't just a pipe dream.

After all, Smith had one of the four major alphabet titles at 168 pounds, and most people considered him the No. 1 fighter overall in the weight class.

So if Alvarez truly wanted to fight the best in the division, Smith had to be at least on the list of possibilities.

"I just had to stay ready and stay in the gym," Smith said.

Soon enough, Alvarez's people called and offered Smith the fight. Smith eagerly accepted on just about five weeks' notice, and now the British boxer hopes a win over Alvarez launches his career into the stratosphere.

"It's a chance for me to show the world how good I really am," Smith said.

Smith said he had no worries about the short camp.

"Sometimes a shorter camp can be blessing..." Smith said. "I'll be in good shape come December 19, and if I wasn't, I wouldn't have took the fight."

While Smith's chance to tussle with Alvarez came much faster than he expected it would, Smith revealed he's been pondering how to beat Alvarez for a long time.

"The minute he went up to 168," Smith said.

That happened way back in December 2018 when Alvarez made a quick turnaround after defeating Gennadiy Golovkin in a 160-pound title fight rematch.

Instead of calling it a year after the big win, Alvarez decided to jump up in weight exactly three months later so he could face 168-pound contender Rocky Fielding for a secondary world title.

Like Smith will have in the fight this weekend, Fielding, a lanky super middleweight also from Liverpool, enjoyed a tremendous size and reach advantage over Alvarez on fight night.

But the Mexican whacked him in just three rounds anyway.

Because of their similar dimensions and hometown connection, many have or will draw comparisons between Smith and Fielding.

Unlike Smith, though, Fielding didn't carry with him into the ring near the kinds of world-class credentials Smith has right now.

Additionally, it should be noted that Smith stopped Fielding in just one round back in 2015. That's three times faster than Alvarez did.

Smith is elite. He's an undefeated and sitting world champion in his prime. He's also the winner of the first season of the World Boxing Super Series tournament in the 168-pound division.

By the way, nobody believed he would win that tournament either.

"People wrote me off," Smith said. "I was the underdog, and I went in and performed the way I knew I could."

But Smith dominated and stopped George Groves in seven rounds in the final. That win netted him two championship belts as well as the Muhammad Ali trophy awarded to winners of the World Boxing Super Series.

Regardless, Smith will enter the biggest fight of his life against Alvarez as the heavy underdog.

Deep down, Smith said there's a part of him that believes Alvarez and his team might be putting too much stock in what they saw from Smith in his last fight against the diminutive but durable domestic contender John Ryder.

Smith entered that fight riding the high tide of serious success only to struggle more than most observers expected he would.

Sure, Smith won the fight via 12-round decision, but people started to wonder aloud after the bout whether the British boxer had begun to show signs he might not be a world-level competitor after all. Such is the case in boxing where one off-night can change perception in a hurry.

"I do believe that played a part," Smith said. "After the Groves fight, I wasn't in Canelo's plans. After the N'Dam fight, I wasn't in Canelo's plans. After the Ryder fight, they started mentioning me a bit more."

Still, Smith doesn't care how or why he got the gig against Alvarez. All that matters is that it's happening.

"I've got this fight, whether they want to challenge the best, or whether they believe the time is right to get me, none of that matters. The fight is done, and I've got to show that I am the best 168 in the world, and I'll beat anyone," Smith said.

And while you're sure to read over and over again this week how much Smith will use his younger brother Liam Smith's defeat at the hands of Alvarez back in 2016 as motivation for his own performance, the fighter said that's only something he would consider after the fact.

"Not really...it would be nice to say I've got revenge," Smith said. "I beat George Groves, who had beat my other brother previously, and it was nice after it. But in terms of motivation for the fight? I don't need any more motivation to beat Canelo Alvarez. The fight is huge regardless."

Canelo vs. Smith takes place on Saturday, December 19. The main card begins at 8 p.m. ET, with the Alvarez-Smith bout set to begin around 11 p.m. ET. The fights will be streamed live from San Antonio via DAZN.

Kelsey McCarson covers combat sports for Bleacher Report and Heavy.