BROTHERLY GLOVE
Liam salutes his family of belters
LIAM SMITH says his family deserve to go down in boxing history for their achievements in the sport.
The former WBO light-welterweight champion gets back on the world title hunt when he takes on Sam Eggington at the Echo Arena in Liverpool a week on Saturday.
But his brother Callum has already followed him in becoming a world champion, beating George Groves last year.
Callum beat Groves to land the WBA supermiddleweight title in September and ensured the Smiths became the first British boxing siblings to win world titles.
That followed all four, including Paul Jnr and Stephen, winning British titles in their respective weight classes.
Liam, who failed in a bid to reclaim the WBO title against Jaime Munguia in July, said: “What Callum did really added to us and what we have achieved.
“If we put every belt we have won on this floor now, it’s an unbelievable achievement. “All four of us have won British titles, challenged for world titles and two of us have won world titles – all of that is from one household.
“I remember seeing when Tommy Coyle was fighting for the British title, he was fighting to become the first one from Hull.
“I was thinking, ‘Wow, we have won four in one house’.
“Josh Warrington was Leeds’ first world champion, a big city, and we have two in our house. I feel once we are done and put all our belts out it will be spoken about a lot more. I’m proud of our achievements and my three brothers.”
Smith hopes his clash with Eggington will get him back to winning ways, with hopes of a world title shot again later this year.
Callum Smith could make the first defence of his WBA super-middleweight title on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight clash with Jarrell Miller on June 1.
Smith’s promoter Eddie Hearn is considering putting the No.1-ranked super-middleweight on the card at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The other option is for Smith to appear on a planned card on May 18 in Chicago.