Former junior middleweight champion Liam Smith is approaching his 37th birthday but believes he still has plenty more to give in the sport.

Smith, who defeated Apollo Thompson for the WBO belt nearly 10 years ago, will fight for the first time in 19 months this Saturday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England. The man in the opposing corner will be the young Irishman Aaron McKenna, who has yet to make his mark on the world scene.

The last time we saw Smith in a ring was during his stoppage defeat to Chris Eubank Jnr back in September 2023. Smith later admitted that he had been carrying injuries and was unable to shift the weight during his preparations. Smith was then slated to face Josh Kelly last September, but had to withdraw due to falling ill on fight week.

Heading into the contest against McKenna, many believe that Smith’s best days are behind him and that his time is done. Smith’s younger brother Callum, a former super middleweight world champion, received the same critique heading into his contest against Joshua Buatsi in February, but proved many wrong.

Smith does not care about the opinions of everyone else, his motivation lies within.

“I just kind of need to prove a point to myself,” Smith told BoxingScene. “I let myself down last time. Through all different circumstances, I feel like I let myself down. I need to just prove I'm back, and that's all I want to prove. Like I said, I'm not going to sit and call all the names I want because it gives them a little bit of a pass to say, ‘He hasn’t fought for 12 months, he hasn’t fought for 14 months.’

“I think it's very easy once I've won, especially on a bill with Eubank and Benn top of the bill. I think when I win, it gives me a bit of leeway and gives me a pass then to call the winner out, to call the other names out, because then I am back. It's no good me being in the gym, sparring and stuff like that until I get under them lights. Unfortunately, last time I was out, I had to pull out against Josh Kelly. Once I'm back, once I fight, I can announce I'm back properly then.”

Prior to his contest with Buatsi, Callum Smith was vocal on how he was not continuing boxing for anything other than to become a two-weight world champion. Liam Smith was asked for his motivation on sticking around in the sport.

“I still have two young daughters who I want to give the world to,” he said. “I'd love to be able to be a two-time, two-weight world champion myself. And I just want to be involved in big fights, and while I feel I've still got big fights in me, then I'm not going to walk away. Obviously, I haven't made the money Callum [Smith] has made either, so that's also an incentive.”