Liam Smith believes his loss to Chris Eubank Jr doesn’t give a fair reflection of Eubank’s level and has warned people not to ‘judge him from our fight.’
Smith and Eubank came to blows twice in a fine British rivalry this year. The first fight happened when Eubank needed an opponent after his ill-fated fight with Conor Benn fell through in October 2022. As such, he stepped into the ring with Smith in January and was, rather surprisingly to many, stopped inside four rounds.
The rematch took place in September after a couple of delays due to injuries to Smith, and this time it was Eubank who shocked many onlookers by knocking Smith out in the 10th round after boxing dominantly.
Smith has operated at the top level for several years with wins over Anthony Fowler, Jessie Vargas, and Liam Williams twice, and has only lost to elite fighters including Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Jamie Munguia.
In light of that when speaking to iFL TV, Smith doesn’t think people should think too much from his loss to Eubank.
“I don’t think he stops Conor but I think he should be too big for him size-wise. You can’t judge Chris off the last fight with myself. People are saying that was a career-best performance from Chris, but I’m telling you now, don’t judge Chris off that.”
He went on to say his performance in the first fight with Eubank is a better indicator for Benn.
“Conor seeing what I’ve done to Chris will give Conor a lot more confidence. The fight is a little bit more interesting than I thought it was the first time the fight was made but I still think Eubank will be too big. Benn can make 147, he’s not a 160.”
The fight is still top priority for Benn’s team, but promoter Eddie Hearn has admitted that back-up options are now being explored. The 26-year-old is still currently without a British license – another obstacle should they want the fight in the UK.
