Liam Smith is looking forward to showing the younger generation exactly what it takes to reach the top when he faces undefeated Aaron McKenna on Saturday night.

Over the past few years, the 36 year-old former WBO super welterweight champion has been involved in a long running rivalry with Chris Eubank Jr and linked to fights with the likes of Kell Brook. Fighters who made their name in the same era as he.

The last time a younger fighter tried to take his name, Smith ruthlessly despatched his city rival, Anthony Fowler, inside eight bad tempered rounds in 2021 and he sees a similar scenario unfolding when he and McKenna, 19-0 (10 KOs), meet at middleweight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, live on DAZN PPV.

“Yeah, not a similar type of fight, but a similar outcome. Yeah, definitely,” Smith, 33-4-1 (20 KOs), told The Ring.

“I feel like I've been asked the same questions now for five, six years, maybe. There was the Fowler fight, I was even getting asked before the Liam Williams fights because I'd been world champion before that. I feel like even during fight week it'll be all the same questions. Do I think I've reached the top and have I still got it blah, blah.”

In February, Smith’s brother, Callum, proved that he had plenty left in the tank when he outlasted the previously undefeated Joshua Buatsi in one of the fights of the year and Smith is looking to follow that example.

“The same questions were getting asked to Callum. If that didn't answer the question of desire, I don't know what will, and I feel like I've got the exact same thing.”

Smith is an out and out competitor and he hasn’t had to look too hard for further sources of motivation ahead of this weekend’s fight.

McKenna has made it known that he hand picked Smith over a world title fight with unified middleweight champion, Janibek Alimkhanuly, and if that slight wasn’t enough to fire him up, Smith knows that a win over the talented Irishman will once again make him a viable opponent for the type of big names he still feels confident of beating.

He is also desperate to banish the memories of the unrecognizable performance he produced during his rematch with Chris Eubank Jr.

In January 2023, Smith dominated and stopped Eubank Jr in four rounds but suffered a back injury before the rematch and had to force himself down to the weight. He was stopped in the tenth round and hasn’t boxed since.

Those who have covered Smith during the various phases of his career know that he has never been the type to go through the motions and it sounds like the fire is burning just as brightly as ever.

“Oh, I know,” he laughed. “It’s just that some people do.

“I could have retired as a very happy man after winning the British title. I didn't want to box. I'd love to tell you that story that I've dreamt of these moments my whole life. I haven’t. I wanted to be a footballer. I just ended up OK at boxing, probably because it was in my blood and in my family. I've had a great career, one that I can pinch myself over.

“I'm doing this because I love fighting now and I feel like I'm from too good a family who would tell me if I was done. If I’d had a good camp and then fought the way I fought against Chris Eubank Jr, I’d have retired on the spot. I know the issues and I know the reasons behind it.

“This is just going to be the same again as all the build-up to Anthony Fowler. Is he ready to kick on? Is McKenna ready for the big names now? Am I finished? I think I know which outcome it'll be.”

Lots of fighters reach the latter stages of their career and find that although their minds might be willing, their bodies either let them down or are no longer able to do what they want it to. Given the way injury disrupted his preparations for the rematch with Eubank Jr and illness ruled him out of a major fight with Josh Kelly on last year’s Riyadh Season show at Wembley Stadium, some observers will hold concerns that Smith has reached that point.

He holds no such fears. He has made it through a long grueling training camp and is ready to show McKenna that he has made the wrong choice in selecting him over Alimkhanuly.

“It’s a long time for me to still be performing at the level I'm performing at and beside the last performance, beside the back injury, I'm a fit kid. I'm a fit person,” he said

“I don't feel 36. Take the grey hair out of it, I'm a naturally fit person.

“I still play Saturday and Sunday league football- I’ve got a match tomorrow - I've always lived a good life. I've lived a clean life. I drink occasionally after a fight, I’ll have a beer but I've never took drugs, I’ve never took social drugs.

“I feel like it speaks for itself that I'm still professional, 16 years in, in a brutal sport.”