With new trainer Bomac McIntyre being very much a part of things, Chris Eubank Junior put things right last night in Manchester, stopping an injured but still game Liam Smith in the tenth round. In getting the win, Eubank Jr avenged his shock (to him mostly) 4th round stoppage loss from January of this year.
Eubank, now 33-3-(24) has received good reviews for his performance, with some bad ones chucked in (Conor Benn for one says he was NOT impressed, stating that it took Eubank “ten rounds to beat a guy with a broken leg.”) But Eubank is basking in victory right now, and he is also calling out a number of names for his next fight, including Benn and Gennady Golovkin.
Eubank also took the time to praise Smith’s fighting heart, while at the same time lambasting those fighters who “are looking to quit.” Smith, who was carrying a leg injury from the early rounds and was also badly cut, did gut it out for as long as he could. However, Eubank said at the post-fight press conference how “it is becoming normal now” for so many fighters and their teams to look to quit when things get tough in a fight.
“You’re a warrior,” Eubank said of Smith, now 33-4-1(20). “He didn’t look for a way out like so many other fighters are doing these days. People are getting hurt, people are getting cut or dropped, and then they’re looking for the towel…..their team’s looking for the towel, or they’re looking to just take a knee and [say], ‘listen, I don’t want any more.’ That guy tonight [Dave Allen against Frazer Clarke], he just quit. And it’s becoming normal now, which is not good. So, when fighters like me and Liam get in the ring and we have no quit in us, that’s what boxing needs.”
Eubank – who also could not resist having a pop at the aforementioned Benn, saying that “maybe the juice is still affecting his mental…..,” this when told Benn had said he was not at all impressed by his win – does make some good points. Do too many fighters quit these days? Or is the ‘quit’ word used too much these days? To his credit, Eubank wanted to try and carry on against Smith in the January fight, this when he had been knocked down and was badly dazed. There seems to be nothing wrong with Eubank’s fighting heart, that’s for sure. But can Eubank now, at this somewhat advanced stage of his career (he will turn 34 later this month), go on to become a world champion?
Eubank, a big name, has options (no third fight with Smith though, we just don’t need to see it). Could it be Benn next, or GGG, or maybe Kell Brook?
