Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Liam Williams on January 29 in Cardiff

By Boxing News - 11/11/2021 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: Middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. will put his #1 ranking with the WBA on the line against recently beaten Liam Williams in a domestic clash on Jan 29 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. The fight will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK.

It’s a risky fight for Eubank Jr. to be taking on the heavy-handed Williams because he’s in a position to get a crack at the WBA title against the winner of the December 29th fight between WBA middleweight champion Ryota Murata and IBF champ Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin.

This is an insane move on Eubank Jr’s part because he’s risking his guaranteed title shot by fighting Williams in front of his fans in Cardiff, Wales. The fans are going to be rabid, screaming for Eubank Jr’s blood on the night, and Williams will be like a bull trying to take his head off with every shot.

If Eubank Jr. loses to ‘The Machine’ Williams on December 11th, he can kiss goodbye forever any chance of him getting a massive payday against Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs).

Eubank Jr. already missed out on a fight with GGG in September 2016 when he lagged during the negotiations and saw welterweight Kell Brook swoop in and take it from under his nose.

Image: Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Liam Williams on January 29 in Cardiff

While UK boxing fans view the Eubank Jr-Williams fight as an exciting dust-up, Americans don’t see the point. Five years later, Eubank Jr. won’t get another opportunity to fight Golovkin if he loses his domestic-level match against Williams.

Golovkin is turning 40 in April, and he’s not going to stay around for the next five years waiting for Eubank Jr. to rebuild his career after a loss to Williams.

Williams (23-3-1, 18 KOs) was just taken to school by WBO middleweight champion Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade in losing a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision to him earlier this year on April 17th in Hollywood, Florida.

Given the one-sided nature of the 29-year-old Williams’ recent defeat against Andrade, it’s hard to see how Eubank Jr. has anything to gain in fighting him. Where’s the upside for Eubank Jr., 32, in taking on a fighter coming off a one-sided defeat?

It would make sense for Eubank Jr. to fight Liam Williams after losing to the Golovkin vs. Murata winner, which is expected to be GGG. After Eubank Jr. gets the big payday against the Golovkin-Murata winner, it would be wise to fight Williams, but NOT before. That’s dumb, dumb, and dumb.

Eubank Jr. is giving Williams a chance to quickly put himself in position for another world title shot without having to do much. All Williams has to do to lock himself in against the Golovkin vs. Murata winner is starch Eubank Jr, and there’s a chance he will.

Eubank Jr. has aged badly since his loss to George Groves in 2018, and he’s not the same guy he was back then. Domestic level middleweight Marcus Morrison gave Eubank Jr. all kinds of problems last May and had him hurt at one point.

After Eubank Jr. tasted some of Morrison’s power early, he played it safe the last three-quarters of the fight, making it painfully dull to watch.

“Liam Williams has been saying a lot to try to catch my attention and bait me into fighting him,” said Eubank Jr. to Sky Sports.

It’s now got to the point where everyone is asking me to shut him up, and on December 11, I’m going to give the people what they want.

“I’m on a mission towards world titles, and Liam Williams is someone I’ve got to go through to get there.

“This is the fight people want to see. They want to see if Williams can back up what he’s been saying – which he won’t,” Eubank Jr. said.

Eubank Jr. is coming off a fifth round stoppage win over little-known Wanik Awdijan last October 16th.