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While junior middleweight titlist Liam Smith admits hes the decided underdog in his pay-per-view showdown against Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez on Saturday, hes not about to take on an underdog mindset entering the fight.As Smith, 28, a native of Liverpool, England, is quick to bring up on more than one occasion, he is the only fighter who will enter the ring inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, wearing a world title.Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs), who is one of four brothers who box professionally, recently spoke with ESPN.com about whats at stake for him in this fight against Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs).Alvarez, as the face of the sport, seemingly has the power to fight whomever he wants. Why do you believe he chose you?I think if you look closely at the fights now, he was always going to come back to 154. So if he doesnt fight for the title, its a blatant excuse to get away from [Gennady Golovkin], in my opinion. So if he fights for the title, he has got a valid excuse. I have one of the belts at 154 at the moment. If you look then at the 154-pound champions, he looked to me. I obviously dont quite know in the States what his situation is exactly but I know I proved a fight with me is very easy to make. Also style wise, I think he can make a great fight with me and it will be a joy to watch for however long it lasts. There is no way this fight can be a bad one to watch.Getting a chance to be around Alvarez on your recent press tour, what did you learn about him that may have surprised you?There were a couple of things. There was not that much size difference between us at all. Being around him, I think hes a nice and okay guy. I dont want to pick on him too much. But you know, it seems like since he is at the top of the sport, everything has got to be on his say. People have to ask him to do things and if he says no then its no -- simple as that -- as far as interviews and things. Like, we went outside for a picture on top of the AT&T Stadium. There was not one picture that was taken because he was hot and he wanted to get back in. Its just little things. When you are on the top of the sport, this comes with it. It is expected, if you get my drift. I just think he was a little bit of a primadonna, so to speak.Alvarez has long battled criticism that hes overrated as a fighter because of his star power. Do you think he is worthy of the hype that has followed him?Look, I think hes a very good fighter. At this weight class, hes a world-class fighter. I dont think hes overrated but I think Golden Boy and the people around him have done a very, very good job. I think he has been promoted very well. This little dinky kid with red hair who turned pro at 15 or 16, he has developed very well. You do have to admit in the fights that he has beaten some very, very good names but the timing of the names can affect things. He fought guys like Alfredo Angulo, Alfonso Gomez and Shane Mosley -- they were all never going to win the fight. Its hard to watch those fights. Hes going against fighters who were retired or past their prime. He did not struggle with them but then he also did have very, very close fights with Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara. Both of them gave him nightmares. I know they are southpaw fighters but they also had a plan and were hungry fighters who came to win.You enter this fight as the decided underdog despite holding the title. What are you looking to dispel about what people think of you with your performance?I think I am the underdog, definitely from the American side, because not many of them have seen a few of my fights. I think if you have clips of stoppages and clips of fights here and there, people would be more confident. From my point of view, I am the underdog going into this fight. Im not saying Im not. But Im the underdog because I havent fought at that level yet against anyone of Canelos level. I also havent had the chance to. So when I beat Canelo, from my point of view, I will be able to say, I told you so. I told you I was at that level. And the people around me will be able to probably say the same. From the American point of view, it would be a massive upset from their side because they dont see where I came from and where Im at.When you think back to when you first turned pro, did the opportunity for a fight this large come at a time in your career when you expected it to?I think its right on time. Its what I have been asking for, for a long while now since I won the title. Im the champion and I look at it as the minute I became champion I was ready to face all comers. Im not going to say Im not ready for a fighter like Canelo Alvarez. Im world champion so if Im not ready for another fighter at 154, I dont deserve to be world champion. Thats the way I look at it and what I firmly believe.There is such a strong boxing tradition within your own family with your brothers Paul, Stephen and Callum. What do you believe is the reason for the success of four boxers from the same family?I dont know what it is. We are good people who come from a good family and have a good coach. We are a down to earth people who happen to be fighters also.When you stepped inside AT&T Stadium for the first time during the recent press tour, what were your emotions like?When I stepped foot in the arena, I just thought we are finally here. This is what you work so hard for. This is where you want to be. I saw my face in the middle of the playing field on a giant screen. From my point of view, it doesnt get much bigger than that. I think from my familys point of view also we are finally here. I have a chance to get a massive win for myself.It has been difficult for fighters to get a close decision against Alvarez in recent years, especially in the state of Texas. How much does that play a factor in your strategy?No, I dont think so. He has had a couple of close decisions that maybe could have gone against him but at the time I felt he had won the fights against Lara and [Trout] because I liked him better. He has more of a style like myself so obviously when I was done watching that fight I would like him the way he was doing it. I look at it as if I win the fight than the judges will have believed in me. Even though Im the B-side in the fight, I am also the champion in the fight. I just hope to get some respect [from the judges] that way. I am confident we will.Considering all you have been through in your career to get to this point, what do you imagine your emotions will be like walking to the ring Saturday inside a massive stadium against the sports most popular fighter?It will feel unbelievable walking in there and taking it all in. Obviously, Im going to be the away fighter. People think that might get to me. Once I will arrive in the ring, Im going to make the most of this fight because this fight I will remember for the rest of my life. From my point of view, this night is going to be remembered by the British people. Not from the American people as much, but from the British fans here who will watch me beat Canelo Alvarez. Its a massive night and opportunity and Im going to cherish every moment of it because this is where every boxer dreams to be.Grant Fuhr Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. Bill Ranford Oilers Jersey .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. http://www.hockeyoilersshop.com/jesse-puljujarvi-jersey/ . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. Zack Kassian Jersey . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Darnell Nurse Oilers Jersey . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half.Australia 228 for 7 (Smith 58, Finch 56, Bailey 39, Dilruwan Perera 3-48) beat Sri Lanka 227 for 8 (Chandimal 80*, Kusal Mendis 67, Faulkner 4-38, Starc 3-32) by three wickets Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSri Lanka had no fewer than six slow-bowling options - half of them specialists. And by the time Australia batted, the dry Premadasa pitch had begun to bubble and spit. In the Tests, these ingredients had led to humbling defeats for the visitors while the local spinners reaped sackfuls of wickets. But perhaps for the first time on tour, Australia satisfactorily negotiated the spin challenge. The win wasnt always pretty, but it was comfortable enough. With Aaron Finch and Steven Smith making half centuries, Australia chased down 228 with three wickets and more than three overs to spare.It had been Australias quicks discipline that had earlier tethered Sri Lanka to a relatively modest total, even given the difficult conditions. Mitchell Starc took three important wickets as he became the quickest bowler in history to 100 ODI wickets, and James Faulkner inflicted even more damage, delivering a double-wicket maiden upon which Sri Lankas innings pivoted, and claiming four wickets for 38 all told.Faulkner had cajoled Kusal Mendis into a miscued pull early in the 30th over, then had Angelo Mathews athletically caught at point four balls later. When Starc took another wicket soon after, Sri Lanka had slipped from 124 for 2 to 132 for 5, and though Dinesh Chandimal was at the crease through the rest of the innings, Sri Lanka could not muster the 250 which might have represented a winning score.Starc prospered on a customary full length, and each of his wickets were the result of drawing batsmen into drives. He knocked down Kusal Pereras off stump in the first over, got Dhananjaya de Silva miscuing a slower ball to claim his 100th wicket, then had Milinda Siriwardana out with a similar delivery. Faulkner bowled his cutters more liberally and generally pitched the ball on a length. Starc did not concede a boundary through his ten overs. Faulkner was exemplary at the death, giving away only 17 in his last three overs, and claiming two scalps in them.Smiths 58 provided the chase its middle-overs substance, but it had been Finch who made quick ground in the early overs, so as to give the middle order a wide margin for error. He clubbed his second ball for six, and did not slow his rate of scoring while the fielding restrictions were in effect even though balls began to misbehave early on. By the end of the 10th over, he had hit seven fours and two sixes in a score of 48 from 36 balls.Finch departed in somewhat controversial circumstances - when Amila Aponso, the debutant left-arm spinner, had one leap away from the bat off a full lenggth.dddddddddddd The ball ended up in the hands of Angelo Mathews at slip, but such was the turn on offer, that it is possible it got there with no interference from Finchs bat.Whatever the case, Smith took the chase by the collar from then onwards, but his was a steadier innings. Aponso beat his bat virtually every over, but Smith kept out the straighter deliveries and scored off the shorter ones. He was dropped on 15 when, at slip, Mathews failed to hold a catch that had deflected off the wicketkeepers pad. The remainder of his outside edges landed safely away from fielders. It was not the most fluent innings Smith has played, but it was the kind of surface on which survival was laudable enough.Aponso was the most accurate of Sri Lankas bowlers, and unlucky to finish with only one wicket from his 10 overs. His colleagues left their surge too late. Dilruwan Perera had Smith caught at short leg, but the score was already 190. He took two more wickets towards the finish, and Lakshan Sandakan one more to add to the earlier wicket of Matthew Wade. Australia lost four for 32 through that late period, but that was not a dramatic enough slump to threaten the result.Sri Lankas top-scorer Dinesh Chandimal had earlier brought a Test-match zen to the first ODI, as he hit an unbeaten 80 from 113 deliveries. He scored in singles and twos exclusively to begin with, and was content to go without a boundary until his 46th delivery. The majority of his runs came square of the wicket; the cut, sweep, dab and legside flick the more favoured among his strokes. The Australia seamers increasingly rolled their fingers over the ball as the innings progressed, but Chandimal was largely wise to their changes of pace - though his shots did also find infielders more often than he would have liked. He hit only three boundaries in his innings.Mendis was the recipient of much good during his 67 from 95 balls. He was dropped on 14, survived a close lbw shout on 25, was almost run out twice, and mishit plenty of his shots. However, unlike Chandimal, Mendis didnt completely omit the more exuberant strokes. His most memorable shots was a regal lofted straight drive off Moises Henriques, and a lofted legside flick off Faulkner.Beyond these two half-centuries, three others made bit-part contributions to the score. Tillakaratne Dilshan made 22 before falling to the Dilscoop. Siriwardana hit 19 off 26 in a 41-run stand with Chandimal, and Thisara Perera made 21 off 14 in the death overs. Australias seamers were difficult to get away at the finish, conceding only 41 in the final six overs, but much of the damage had been done earlier on. ' ' '