Liam Smith is a direct 2½-1 loser in the match against Chris Eubank Jr. on Saturday at the AO Arena in Manchester, England (DAZN).
The former 154-pound champion lost to Mexican stars Canelo Alvarez and Jaime Munguia. And he lost to rising middleweight rival Magomed Kurbanov in May 2021, which seemed to signal the end of his tenure as an elite boxer.
However, the 34-year-old then went on to win three in a row – including 10 goals.order-eliminated Jessie Vargas last April – to reset his credentials.
And now, he has the chance to go one step further against his English compatriot in a 160-pound match at home.
“It was a big domestic war,” Smith said RingTV.com. “[It’s] a great war to join, a war that I am pleased with and which I have called for. That is what I am looking forward to.”
Especially since he believes he has a good chance to raise his hand.
Eubank (32-2, 23 KOs) is also on an impressive streak, with six straight wins since he lost to George Groves on points in 2018. That includes decisions over James DeGale in 2019 and Liam Williams in his most recent match, last February.
However, Eubank still has doubts. Smith seems to be in that group.
“When I took it off and back, how smart do I think he is? I think he’s fine,” Smith said. “I just don’t rate his boxing, his boxing IQ, I don’t think he’s the smartest. I don’t think he’s a world-class middleweight in that sense.”
Smith (32-3-1, 19 KOs) criticized Eubank’s performance against Williams even though Eubank scored four kills in a one-way skirmish.
Smith said: “He dropped Liam Williams four times and didn’t get him out of there. “I don’t know if he can do the rounds as well as he used to because if I knock someone down four times in a match, I bet every penny I own they won’t see. the last bell.”
Smith has been training in his hometown of Liverpool for the upcoming game, which means he has been with his family on holiday. However, he has to make sacrifices that he wouldn’t normally make at that time of year.
And he’s fine with that.
“I knew I was going to have to have a disciplined Christmas,” he said, “but when I beat Chris Eubank Jr. on January 21, I will reap the fruits of my discipline over Christmas.”
