Roy Jones Jr believes ‘a lot of different things’ contributed to Chris Eubank Jr’s loss to Liam Smith – but two glaring errors stand out.
The boxing legend has in Eubank’s corner since 2020, guiding him towards three straight victories before Smith upset the odds in Manchester by knocking the Brighton man out.
It took just four rounds for it to happen, with a flurry of uppercuts and hooks rendering Eubank unable to continue. There was a significant elbow in there, too, according to Eubank’s team.
Regardless, it was a statement win for Liverpool’s Smith – one he had said would happen – and left 33-year-old Eubank’s career in doubt.
Speaking to iD Boxing News ahead of a rumoured announcement for the rematch, Jones said his fighter didn’t follow the game plan.
“It was a lot of different things … but, truthfully speaking, he also didn’t follow protocol. The protocol was not to go out and fight the way he fought. The protocol was something totally different.”
“He didn’t do what we trained to do, and what we worked on, and what our mindset had been put to be. We didn’t do that.”
Given the as-yet unannounced rematch, Jones wasn’t keen to go into what exactly Eubank didn’t do in the ring, presumably because they’ll be trying harder to implement the right tactics this time around.
The fighter-turned-trainer did say that he believes his man underestimated Smith, though.
“I knew already just because of the situation that both of their games should rise. Chris should’ve risen his game, and Liam should’ve risen his game.
The thing was, I think Chris slightly underestimated Liam, and he didn’t really worry about rising his game. He thought he was good enough where he was. But Liam took it as ‘hey, we’re fighting for the number one spot in this country.’ He took his game up.”
The pair look set to run it back in June this year, with Smith confident that he’ll repeat the victory. As for Eubank, this second fight seems make or break for him, certainly in terms of his world title goals.