SATURDAY night sees two world title defences take place on opposite sides of the Atlantic. 

In Liverpool at the M&S Bank Arena, Callum Smith puts his WBA world, WBC diamond and Ring Magazine super-middleweight titles on the line against John Ryder in a mandatory defence, while at the MGM in Las Vegas, the self-styled Bronze Bomber, Deontay Wilder, risks his WBC heavyweight title in a rematch with Cuba’s formidable Luis Ortiz.

For Smith, who cemented his status as an elite-level fighter with his clinical demolition of George Groves in the final of the World Boxing Super Series super-middleweight tournament in Saudi Arabia just over a year ago, victory over Ryder will set up the likely prospect of a massive legacy fight at his beloved Anfield next year against the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin or perhaps even Britain’s Billy Joe Saunders in what would be a classic domestic clash.