By Barry Holbrook: Chris Eubank Jr taunted Liverpool native Liam Smith with a billboard message posted on a building in Manchester, letting fans know what’s in store for ‘Beefy’ on January 21st when the two meet at the AO Arena.

Smith (32-3-1, 19 KOs) is up against it, taking on the bigger, stronger, faster, and arguably more skilled Eubank Jr (32-2, 23 KOs) at middleweight. The fight will be shown live on DAZN.

The message reads:

“It won’t be the first time that Liverpool come to Manchester and taken a beating,” said Eubank Jr in the billboard message.

If the 34-year-old Smith can find a way to win, it would be a massive upset, and it would hurt Eubank Jr’s plans for 2023 to fight the likes of Gennadiy Golovkin and Conor Benn.

“The dislike for each other. It’s not one of those stupid dislikes where after, they’ll probably like other,” said promoter Kalle Sauerland to iFL TV about Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith’s genuine dislike.

“There’s dislike because they’re such different characters, and that comes out, even if you’re not a boxing fan and don’t want to watch the fight. You watch it because it’s a character analysis of two very different people. It’s highly entertaining.

“It’s a very different fight. There are a lot of unknowns about Conor Benn, and we know that Liam Smith has been a world champion,” said Kalle when asked to compare the Eubank Jr-Smith fight to if Conor Benn were fighting Eubank Jr.

“We don’t know about Conor. We know he can bang, and we know he’s a young boxer and is exciting. Liam Smith has been at the top world level, and we know he’s tough, and we know it’s a really live fight.

“People always ask me, ‘What’s next?’ Let’s get past Liam Smith first. It’s a massive fight, it’s a hugely important fight. We hope it sets up a massive year, but it’s a very tough fight.

“At the very top of the list, [Gennadiy] Golovkin,” said Kalle when asked who he would like to match against Eubank Jr in 2023. “If he’s cleared to fight [Conor Benn], absolutely. If he’s not cleared to fight, absolutely not.

“Billy Joe Saunders is out there, making a comeback, I hear through the grapevine, which is a fight that everyone has been calling out for. There’s also the world titles,” said Kalle about his hopes for Eubank Jr this year.