Chris Eubank Jr will face Liam Smith in a rematch on June 17 following his first stoppage loss. It will take place at 160lb again – a weight many analysts believe Eubank struggles to make comfortably.
The Brighton man was swarmed by uppercuts and hooks – and an elbow, according to him – by underdog Smith in January to see the contest end in the fourth.
Eubank had previously been set to fight Conor Benn in October of 2022, but positive drugs tests on his opponent’s part saw that cancelled. For that bout, he was meeting Benn at a 157lb catchweight, which would be the lowest of his career.
Many feel that taking on that weight cut left him ill-prepared for the Smith training camp. He weighed in at 159lb on fight week.
Speaking to IFL TV ahead of the second bout, Eubank said he cut weight in a way that he’ll never do again.
“At 33 years old, cutting weight is never gonna be fun. It only ever gets harder. But I’m not using that as an excuse as to why what happened happened. I feel like I dominated the first three rounds and then I made a mistake and he capitalised.”
I’m not gonna equate that to me having to cut weight, twice, back to back, [or] me coming in a pound under the weight that I was supposed to come in. Me cutting weight a certain way for the first time in my career for the Smith fight – which I’m not going to be doing again, by the way.”
Whether the weight was or is an issue is largely redundant at this point – the contract is signed and Eubank finds himself in a must-win position.