Quotes from Callum Smith

When I am retired I will know how good I was.

A lot of people say I've got an old head on young shoulders and I think that's because I'd been around boxing for a long time before I actually started doing it.

I'm a perfectionist and I always want to do the best as possible.

I want the best names in the division. The fear brings out the best performance in myself.

I'm a big believer that, if you're good enough, then why wait around fighting a load of journeymen for a few years? If you're good enough, then step up.

As long as it was George Groves in the opposite corner with his world title, the date was irrelevant to me. I was prepared to wait as long as it took to get that fight for the world title.

I think he's a special fighter, I'm a big Canelo fan, but I think he's a special fighter at middleweight and I think a lot of his advantages he has at that level, he'll lose when he steps up to super middleweight.

When I was about 17 I was on the G.B. squad and that's where I wanted to be. I went to the Commonwealth Games and got silver there, but the three years I was on the team it was London-this, London-that. It was all preparation for the Olympics.

I don't want to be forever rewinding the Groves fight because I want to have loads of others to watch too.

Anfield - that's the plan. A fight in my team's ground. Always cherished the thought of that, too.

We wear 'Autism' on our shorts to raise awareness and show support for other families dealing with autism.

Everyone aims to get close to me and I've got to learn how to be able to cope, and that's what we work on all the time.

There's no praise for scoring a fight right, just criticism for one you get wrong.

Any fight I feel pressure, just the same as the last one, the next one will be just as important.

The Olympics are the biggest thing in boxing and the more you do as an amateur, the better deal you get as a pro.

I've been working on my power, obviously I do my strength work, I'm learning the technical things as well.

I'm too professional, too much of a perfectionist to take my eye off the ball.

Canelo Alvarez is a very good fighter. I believe he's the best 160 fighter in the world. I don't think there's a fighter at 160 who can beat him.

If I am still fighting at 35 I will be disappointed.

I don't like watching long, 12-round fights, they're boring.

Every time I step up I win so why not keep going.

There's a lot of good fighters at 168 with or without Canelo, so I want to test myself against them.

I believe 168 is my division and I'm willing to take on all-comers.

Winning the World title is much more important to me than fighting Groves - but I do believe I have got the beating of him style-wise if it comes off.