Middleweight Liam “Beefy” Smith (33-3-1, 20 KOs) is a -150 favorite to defeat Chris Eubank Jr (32-3, 23 KOs) again in this week’s biggest fight. Smith and Eubank return to the ring at the AO Arena Manchester eight months on from their electrifying January encounter which ended with a Smith KO victory after a frenetic four-round firefight.
The undercard includes WBA #11 super lightweight Adam Azim (8-0, 6 KOs) against Aram Fanyan (23-1, 5 KOs), a big domestic heavyweight clash between Frazer Clarke (7-0, 5 KOs) and Dave Allen (25-5-2, 18 KOs), a welterweight encounter between ‘The Albanian King’ Florian Marku (12-0-1, 7 KOs) and Dylan Moran (18-1, 8 KOs) plus British super middleweight champion Mark Heffron (29-2-1, 23 KOs) defending his belt against gritty challenger ‘Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver’ Jack Cullen (21-4-1, 9 KOs), former unified female world champion Mikaela Mayer (18-1, 5 KOs) and Olympic gold medallist Lauren Price (4-0, 1 KOs).
ESPN+ will televise is the U.S., Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view has the bout in the U.K.
Eubank Jr. looked shot and weight drained that fight against Smith. If its just the weight issue, at 168 lbs he would have a better shot at getting revenge; think its a wrap for him.
It will be another repeat maybe more quicker.
Would still like to see Eubank vs Benn, if not just for nostalgia value
I wouldn’t give Benn a dollar by fighting him. Call me old fashioned, but I don’t respect obvious juicers like Benn. Besides, none of the sons will ever be as insane as their fathers. Those 2 did not give a sh*t about who they fought and always came in ready for anything.
But i bet you are a fan of the biggest doper in Britain, Tyson Fury.
I feel Marku has potential but he is being moved so slowly.
It’s a repeat.
Sad to say but Jr has evolved into a massive irritation. Just cannot see him reversing the result of the first fight where he was well and truly beaten and completely out on his feet when the fight was stopped.
I think Jr has always been too hesitant with the trigger. Just let your hands go.
I’me hoping for a repeat.
I don’t see why Eubank who got most of his career fought at 168 insists on fighting at 160. It’s clear he is weakened by going down.
If it is repeat Eubank could retire or move back up and fight the winner of Heffron – Cullen. Meanwhile Beefy could fight Ryder. UK often has a lot of options especially in that weight range.
I do not like the following: catchweights, rehydration clauses, and rematch clauses. Eubank should probably have went back to 168 and fight someone like Cullen. Have a few confidence building fights and who knows…maybe Beefy gets more Beefy and they rematch at 168 down the road. By having a rematch clause it becomes a pride thing for a fighter. If they do not take it, the perception is they are afraid of another a** whooping. Thus they end up taking an immediate rematch when it is likely not the best thing for them. Same goes for Spence. A rematch with Crawford is not in demand right now and is probably a bad move for him. Having this clause though puts him in an awkward position. He is a warrior and it is hard for a warrior to forego a chance at redemption. If there is no clause he could simply go in another direction and maybe meet Crawford down the road after some water has gone under the bridge. If a fight is competitive/controversial the public will demand a rematch. These clauses in my opinion do more harm then good for the sport.
From the day Eubanks joined up with Jones, everything he had in boxing went down the drain. Eubanks was an action fighter, Jones turned him into a clown in the ring. He also seemed to inherit Jones` weak chin (which must rate as the weakest ever for a world champion, it was his speed that saved him early in his career). There has never been a champion fighter that has been knocked cold as many times as Jones. Eubanks never tried to improve with a proper trainer in Britain, he thought he knew more than everybody. Now he is trying to get back what he has lost. Even if he manages to beat Smith in the return, the boat to the top has sailed, Smith is not a world beater anyway.