Chris Eubank Jr & Liam Smith both weighed in at 159 lbs during Friday’s weigh-in for their main event fight this Saturday night January 21st, on DAZN at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
Eubank Jr (32-2, 23 KOs) came out wearing a rainbow-colored armband on his right arm in response to former WBO junior middleweight champion ‘Beefy’ Smith (32-3-1, 19 KOs) repeatedly questioning his sexuality last Thursday at the final press conference.
During the face-off today, Eubank Jr looked menacing, staring into the eyes of a surprisingly nervous-appearing Smith, who had the appearance of someone that looked guilty.
Perhaps Smith has noted the huge backlash that he’d received since making his homophobic comments the day before. Whatever the reason, the 34-year-old Smith was a lot less confident appearing than he’d been at the final press conference with Eubank Jr.
One thing that was quite noticeable was the size difference between the 33-year-old former IBO super middleweight champion Eubank Jr and Smith. Eubank Jr, who had a full lat-lock going the entire time, like what you’d see from a bodybuilder posing on stage, appeared much bigger than the smallish Smith.
The frame of Eubank Jr is a lot bigger than Smith, and that could mean problems for Liam. He doesn’t possess the punching power of his younger brother Callum Smith or the same killer instinct. Liam is a volume puncher guy in the Artur Gatti mode.
Smith jumps on his opponents and slugs away at them until they wear out. That approach has mostly worked for Smith against the British domestic and European-level opposition he’s fought throughout his career, but when he stepped up several times against world-level opposition, he lost.
Eubank Jr: Liam doesn’t want to be here
“I made the weight in excellent fashion, and I can’t wait to go tomorrow,” said Eubank Jr to Sky Sports Boxing after successfully weighing in at 159 lbs on Friday at the weigh-in for his fight against Liam Smith in Manchester, England.
“I’m at 50% now, and that’s all that it takes to beat this man. I saw in his eyes on the stage that he doesn’t want to be here. He’s going to be in for a shock. Now he’s made things personal, so I’m going to go out there and enjoy the punishment I dish out.
“It’s not just business. It’s personal. I’ve got to win in devastating fashion so I can go on and fight the big names in the division, i.e., GGG,” said Eubank Jr.
