By Jack Tiernan: Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith says Chris Eubank Jr must decide whether to take the rematch with him after his fourth round knockout loss on Saturday night at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
Eubank Jr might take confidence from the success that he had in the first three rounds, where he was controlling the fight from the outside, using his jab and long reach to keep Smith bottled up, unable to reach him with his compact shots.
Although Eubank Jr (32-3, 23 KOs) stated after the fight that he plans on taking the rematch, Smith says Chris needs to sit down and really think it over before he chooses to go in the direction of a second fight.
All the flaws that Smith exposed in Eubank Jr’s game tonight will likely be still present for the rematch, and he can ill afford a second knockout loss. Losing once is bad enough for the 33-year-old Eubank Jr, but if he gets dusted off a second time, it’s game over career-wise.
Chris’ days of hustling domestic-level fights against overmatched opposition that he has no business fighting would be over if he gets sparked out by Smith (33-3, 20 KOs) a second time.
“I told you all ‘never say never, don’t be surprised,'” said Liam Smith to iFL TV when told, ‘I didn’t see that coming’ about his upset win over Chris Eubank Jr. “He has a great chin, but if you hit him on the button, he’s going.
“There has been fighters with better chins than Chris that have been knocked out eventually.
“Yeah, it was because of who it was and obviously a sold-out Manchester Arena,” said Smith when asked if this is his best career win.
“Yeah, I am,” said Liam when asked if he’s contracted for a rematch against Eubank Jr. “He’s got to accept the rematch now, and obviously, the rematch goes on my terms. If the public wants it, of course, but Chris has got to go back and make a decision now.
“Chris has got to evaluate his decision to accept the rematch. I don’t know what went on with himself. He’s got to accept it.
“Chris has got proper long arms, and I was falling short. I was maybe starting a little slow not as good as I should have, and not closing the gap as quickly as I should have. I felt great tonight,” said Smith.
