Chris Eubank Jr floors Liam Smith twice before sealing stoppage in 10th round of rematch at Manchester Arena; book the repeats at 8am and 3pm on Sunday on Sky Sports Box Office
Chris Eubank Jr stopped Liam Smith in the 10th round to cap a dominant performance and gain revenge in the pair’s high-stakes rematch in Manchester on Saturday night.
The reversal of fortune Eubank secured was spectacular as he dropped Smith with a crisp right uppercut in the fourth round and continued to press home his advantage.
In the 10th another sustained attack forced Smith to a knee. Eubank unleashed punches, hammering him on the ropes until the referee intervened at 1-45.
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Eubank had been determined to avenge his loss to Smith. In January he had suffered a painful four-round defeat to the Liverpudlian in the AO Arena also.
Eubank relocated his training camp from his Brighton hometown to Las Vegas and linked up with renowned trainer Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, the coach who had taken Terence Crawford to the summit of the sport.
However the pressure on him going into this fight was acute. A second defeat in the same manner as the first would leave him with almost nowhere left to go.
He was on the edge of disaster and, after forcing this rematch with the clause that was in their first contract, he was trying to fight his way off that precipice.
But he did so in extraordinary fashion. He appeared almost over-eager in the opening rounds as he bored forward into clinches, trying to manhandle Smith.
The Liverpudlian tumbled over in the second, and he appeared to struggle with his footing later on in the fight.
In the third round, a flurry from Eubank did catch Smith round the head. Eubank maintained that effort, heaving his punches into Smith’s arms.
Smith swept a right over and for an instant it looked like Eubank’s knees dipped. He stepped into a clinch to recover, but soon got back to working from mid-range.
Eubank opened up the fourth round firing in a great combination, within it a right hand hit the side of Smith’s head.
But it was a right uppercut, perfectly placed on the inside that dropped Smith.
Smith was dazed and badly hurt. But he had enough of his wits about him to let his gumshield fall from his mouth to buy himself some momentary respite.
In the next round Eubank sustained a monstrous burst of pressure, crunching punches striking in. Smith swayed in the rigging and brought up a ragged cheer when he spun out of danger with a right hook.
But ultimately he could not stave Eubank off. A left to the body would hurt him. As Eubank directed Smith to the ropes, he drove him to a knee.
Brave to the end, Smith rose but Eubank continued to club him against the ropes and the referee called Eubank off, stopping Smith and ending the fight.
Eubank stood in the centre of the ring alone for a precious few moments. He stared out to the crowd, he stared into the camera and he knew just how important for his future that result had been.
“I had to prove to the fans and the boxing public that I am who I say I am,” he said.
“I’m not a pretender, I’m not a fake. I do the things I say I’m going to do.”
