Former four-weight world champion turned trainer, Roy Jones Jr, has suggested a change of weight for Chris Eubank Jr in his next fight.
The 33-year-old linked up with boxing legend, Jones, in 2021 and went on to win the first three fights under his stewardship, beating Marcus Morrison, Wanik Awdijan and Liam Williams. He was brutally stopped for the first time in his career last week after a four-round thriller with Liam Smith.
After the fight, Eubank seemed keen to make the rematch with ‘Beefy’, believing to have been the better boxer but getting caught with a ‘once in a lifetime punch’.
Smith has since confirmed that there is a deadline by which time Eubank must activate his rematch clause if he wants to fight again, and that he is yet to do so.
In an interview with Boxing UK, Jones indicated that Eubank could avoid the rematch with Smith and instead go back to fighting in the super-middleweight division to enter the ring at a more natural weight.
“He definitely wants the rematch clause – I’m not sure if we’re gonna take it next, but he definitely wants it.”
“I don’t think that the weight was the issue, but you can never tell.
We have got to have a look at him [Eubank] and see. That is why we might have to go back, fight a fight at 164/165lbs, see how he looks, and we will see what happens.”
Eubank’s team were also said to be considering launching an appeal to the British Boxing Board of Control in relation to an alleged elbow landed by Liam Smith during his fight-winning flurry, a claim which Liam Smith has laughed off.
With the clock ticking, fans are left wondering whether the Eubank-Smith rivalry is dead in the water or set to be revitalised with a rematch and a new twist to the story.