By Jake Tiernan: Liam Smith says trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre won’t be able to improve Chris Eubank Jr. in the four weeks that he has been training him enough for him to help him win this tonight at the Manchester Arena in Manchester. US fight fans can watch the entire card live on ESPN+
It’s questionable whether Eubank Jr. (32-3, 23 KOs) has listened to what BoMac has been trying to teach him in the last four months because Chris has a rep for tuning out what his trainers are telling him.
Smith (33-3-1, 20 KOs) says he doesn’t know if BoMac is a great trainer or not, as he might be someone who was blessed with having Terence Crawford, and that’s a fighter who would excel under any coach.
Liam points out that Amir Khan hasn’t improved with his time working with BoMac, which suggests that he’s not capable of performing miracles.
BoMac is a good trainer, but he won’t be able to transform Eubank Jr. into another Crawford or make him the kind of fighter that his famous father was.
Eubank Jr. isn’t blessed with that type of taleent, and with him turning 34 on September 18th, he doesn’t possess the youth to stick around to learn. He’s just an aging domestic-level fighter who has benefited from being the son of Chris Eubank Sr.
If Eubank Jr. backs up against the ropes on Saturday night like he did in his previous fight with Smith, there’s nothing BoMac can do to help him out.
Smith is at his best when his opponents are stationary and trapped, and he’ll take full advantage of the situation as he did in the first fight. Yeah, we might see an elbow or two thrown by Smith because he knows that worked well for him.
“He’s saying these things, trying to blow it off like it was one shot out of hell that he was dominating the fight, which no one seems to agree with,” said Liam Smith to Fight Hub TV about his rematch with Chris Eubank Jr. this Saturday night in Manchester.
It wasn’t just one shot that led to Eubank Jr. getting stopped last January. He got hit by a blizzard of heavy punches from Smith, and Eubank Jr. didn’t have the good sense to get off the ropes. That’s the most troubling part of it all.
“Chris is doing the things that are going to convince himself that he’s back favorite in this fight, and he’s got a big chance in this fight,” Liam continued.
“Which one was the miracle shot?” said Smith when told that Eubank Jr. said that he was hurt by a miracle shot in their fight last January. “He won’t answer me. You know which one it was.
“I threw a combination at you. The first right hand absolutely rocked you to your boots. The left uppercut stiffened you, and the left hook put you on your backside. You got up and had a chance to continue, but you couldn’t.
“Chris can convince people it was a miracle, convince them it was a shot out of the Gods, but he knows it wasn’t. I’m confident I can nail Chris. It’s in his head. He knows I can nail him.
“I feel as soon as I put Chris in position again, I’ll land those shots. I don’t really care about it. If I say too much about it, I’ll look bad,” said Smith when asked about his thoughts on Eubank Jr. switching trainers from Roy Jones Jr. to Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre.
“I know the ins & outs of it. BoMac is here for money, and that’s it. BoMac will come here and get his money and get off. Roy Jones left because of money.
“What can BoMac teach him in four weeks? I don’t care how good the coach is. He might be a good coach, but he might not be. He might just be blessed with Terence Crawford. He didn’t do nothing for Amir Khan when he brought Amir Khan over here. He can have Terence Crawford in his corner. I don’t care,” said Smith.
