Chris Eubank Jr snatched his career from the jaws of defeat as he completely dismantled Liam Smith in front of a capacity crowd in Manchester. Eight months removed from the first stoppage loss of his career, Eubank Jr returned the favour with a tenth-round TKO to exact his revenge.
Before the bout, Next Gen controversially banned his new trainer Brian McIntyre from having a towel in the corner as he prepared for what he described as a “dog fight”. Former head coach Roy Jones Jr opted to wave the towel to end the fight last time out and Eubank Jr wasn’t happy.
In the immediate aftermath of the rematch, Eubank Jr lobbed every towel out of the ring within reaching distance as he celebrated his victory. On the mic, he remained humble – a very out-of-character trait for a man who has willingly taken on the role of the bad guy of British boxing.
He refused to make excuses for losing the last fight despite being pressed and gave all credit to Smith for being the better man the last time they met. The conclusive nature of the win meant a rubber match no longer made sense and instead, Eubank Jr cast his mind to the future as he called out domestic rivals Conor Benn and Kell Brook.
“There’s some big names out there, I see a few of those guys in the crowd, I’m coming for you Conor [Benn] I’m coming for you,” he said in his post-fight interview. “I’m coming for you Kell [Brook], I’m coming for you. Anyone else who wants it we’re going to put a show on for the fans that’s for sure.”
He also made mention of former unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin – a fight he has chased for many years now. “Listen, I want to fight triple G,” Eubank Jr added. “I don’t know where he is right now but wherever you are Gennady, you’ve been holding onto those belts for too long, I want to take one. So, let’s get that on if we can. 100 per cent.”
Prior to the first Smith fight getting made, Eubank Jr was expected to square off against Benn in a much-anticipated grudge match last October. However, the contest was pulled after Benn returned adverse analytical findings for the banned substance clomifene in a pre-fight drugs test carried out by VADA.
As a result, Benn was provisionally suspended by UKAD but has since been cleared to fight again after the suspension was lifted by the independent National Anti-Doping Panel. The British Boxing Board of Control and UKAD went on to file an appeal to the ruling last month, which we are still awaiting the results of.