The date has been made official for the Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Smith clash at AO Arena in Manchester, England on Saturday, January 21. The pair squares off in the scheduled for twelve rounds bout at middleweight.
Hove, East Sussex native Chris Eubank Jr (32-2-0, 23 KOs) is riding the six-win streak. In his previous bout in February in Cardiff the son of legendary former world champion defeated Liam Williams by unanimous decision. The 33-year-old is looking to get back in action after his proposed October bout with Conor Benn was postponed.
“Has he [Liam Smith] been in there with some good fighters? Yes. Are they on my level? No. He’s a competent fighter, but class beats competence every day of the week,” Chris Eubank Jr said (via press release sent out by Boxxer). “It’s a good opportunity for me to show I’m twice the fighter that he is as well as those he has faced.”
“Manchester is an iconic sporting city. It has hosted many legendary fight nights and many memorable fighters have been born there. It’ll be a great performance, and the Eubank name will hopefully become a regular feature whenever the boxing history of Manchester is discussed.”
Liam Smith (32-3-1, 19 KOs) of Liverpool, England scored three straight victories by TKO. In his previous outing in September he stopped Hassan Mwakinyo in the fourth round in front of his hometown crowd. Prior to that he defeated Jessie Vargas and Anthony Fowler via tenth and eighth round stoppage, respectively.
“He’s making a big mistake fighting me,” Liam Smith said. “Every time he has stepped up to elite level, he has failed. I am elite and he will fall again on January 21st in Manchester.”
“If he was at 60% for the fight that never was against Conor Benn, then he’ll need to be at 160% to be ready to face me, a former world champion, in front of thousands of my fans in the North-West.”
“For Chris this is a high-risk, low-reward. For me, it’s the perfect platform to show I will rule the world again in 2023. He needs to be prepared for the toughest night of his career.”
The bouts featured on the Eubank Jr vs Smith undercard are expected to be announced shortly.
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