The first big UK fight card of 2023 sees Chris Eubank Jr (32-2, 23 KO’s) finally make his return to the ring on 21st January 2023 at the AO Arena in Manchester, England to face Liverpool’s Liam Smith (32-3-1, 19 KO’s) after Eubank’s much-anticipated clash with Conor Benn was called off back in October 2022.
Sky Sports Box Office will televise Eubank vs Smith in the UK, with BOXXER and Wasserman Boxing sharing promotional duties.
Eubank and Benn were set to rekindle their fathers’ 1990’s rivalry in October but the fight was cancelled after Benn failed a drugs test, although Benn is adamant that there was injustice at play and he is fighting to clear his name.
That fight, perhaps inevitably, may very well still happen at some point, but for now, Eubank is in another exciting fight with ‘Beefy’. With aspirations of fighting the likes of Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in 2023, this is a must-win for Eubank.
Smith is a former super welterweight world champion, looking for this fight to catapult himself back into world title shot contention.
Eubank’s two professional career losses have been to Billy Joe Saunders via split decision in November 2014, and George Groves via unanimous decision in February 2018. He is a former British and WBA Interim middleweight champion, and IBO super middleweight champion. Eubank is currently on a six fight winning streak since the loss to Groves, with his most recent outing being a unanimous decision win against Liam Williams in February 2022, with Williams touching the canvas four times.
Smith’s first pro loss was a ninth round KO defeat to Canelo in September 2016, when Smith lost his WBO super welterweight title. His other two losses have been unanimous decisions to Jaime Munguia and Magomed Kurbanov. Smith won the vacant WBO Inter-Continental super welterweight championship against Jessie Vargas at Madison Square Garden in April 2022, before making a homecoming return at the Echo Arena in Liverpool with a fourth-round stoppage of Hassan Mwakinyo.
Recent wins against Anthony Fowler and Vargas have given Smith some good momentum, with his career back on track. Defeat against Eubank could be career-ending, whilst victory would renew hopes of becoming a two-time world champion.
This has been a highly anticipated match-up on British shores for some time now.
Speaking at the heated final press conference, Eubank said: “I’m cutting weight right now, so I’m on a good solid 40, 45, 44% right now, but I’ll be 50% on the night, absolutely, a strong 50%, and that’ll be more than enough to take care of the man to my left.”
Eubank carrying on his “60% baby” style trash talk from the Benn fight.
Approaching the end of a fiery presser, Smith outlined his aspirations to get a win by any means necessary.
“It’s just the win that matters regardless, but there’s nothing more that I’d love than to make a statement and stop Chris Eubank, but a win regardless by any means necessary.”
Eubank is the naturally bigger man, having competed at 168 lbs before, and Smith is the man with more experience at the top level. Smith has also been more active than Eubank as of late, which may be a deciding factor on the night.
Chris’ father, Eubank Sr, competed in a golden age alongside the likes of Nigel Benn and Michael Watson in the early 1990’s, and they took part in contests which captivated the UK audiences and created legacies.
Whether Eubank Jr and Smith can recreate such all-out, exhilarating action to captivate audiences in the same way remains to be seen, but with this clash of styles and personal dislike, fireworks are surely inevitable.
By Sina Latif