Chris Eubank Jr. (32-3, 23 KOs) and former WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith (33-3-1, 20 KOs) both weighed in successfully today at their weigh-in for their rematch this Saturday night.
Weigh-in results:
Liam Smith – 160
Chris Eubank Jr. – 159.3
Smith, 35, looked thin & drawn at today’s weigh-in, which could indicate that he will rehydrate a large amount of weight overnight to come into the contest around 175 lbs on Saturday night.
In contrast, Eubank Jr. looked like he was already filled out and ready to step inside the ring. It’s likely that he won’t put on a lot of weight overnight because he’s not done that kind of thing in the past.
While this fight has no real ramifications regarding the world stage, it’s important for the careers of the 35-year-old Smith & soon-to-be 34-year-old Eubank Jr. If they want to continue making good money fighting at the British level, they’ve got to win on Saturday night.
Smith knocked out Eubank Jr. in the fourth round last January, and he’ll be looking to try and duplicate that in the rematch. Eubank Jr. has a new trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre, who has been working hard to undo all the bad habits he developed during his twelve-year professional career.
The Smith vs. Eubank Jr. rematch will occur at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, this Saturday, September 2nd. It will be shown on Sky Box Office PPV in the UK.
In the U.S., the event will be streamed on ESPN2, starting on ESPN+ starting at 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT.
“I had a conversation with Chris Eubank yesterday at the open workout. I said, ‘Chris, how are you feeling going into this fight?’ and he said, ‘Spence, it’s the first time in my career where I felt like I’ve been backed into a corner where I feel like my back’s against the wall where I feel the pressure,'” said Spencer Oliver to talkSPORT Boxing about his conversation he had with Chris Eubank Jr. ahead of today’s weigh-in for his rematch with Liam Smith.
“Do you think that will work to his advantage or against him because I think that he was complacent last time, maybe overconfident last time, working with Roy Jones? He tried to adopt that style, which was not his style.
“He was switching off inside and someone like Liam Smith, who adapts a brilliant style with hands high, and he attacks on the attack, and he makes his plate, and he makes his opponents pay.
“That’s where the fight was won and lost the first time. Will he have learned from those mistakes, and you feel the pressure of
what he’s going into now will work to his advantage?” said Spencer.
“I think he’s got no choice but to learn if he’s going to have a chance to be successful on Saturday night,” said Paulie Malignaggi. “He’s going to have to have learned from that experience and have a mental approach that is different from that fight.
“But second of all, I’m sure he’s learned something. When you feel your back is to the wall, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. You can lose sleep at night, don’t get me wrong, but we talk about being complacent.
“You definitely won’t be complacent when your back is against the wall. If you feel that heat, that pressure. I always felt like, as a fighter, you had to feel a little bit of the heat, a little bit of the pressure in the dressing room before you came out to the arena because it kept you alert.
“Yes, it’s an uncomfortable feeling, but it keeps you alert, and I think as you gain a lot of experience sometimes, later in my career, I stopped feeling that, and it was like I fought more lackadaisical.
“So I think as long as you have that feeling that he’s talking about, I think that’s a good thing. It makes you razor sharp mentally,” said Malignaggi.
The official weigh-in results are as follows:
Liam Smith (11st 6lbs) vs Chris Eubank Jr (11st 5lbs 5oz)
12 Round Middleweight Bout
Adam Azim (9st 13lbs) vs Aram Fanyan (9st 13lbs)
10 Round Super-Lightweight Bout
Frazer Clarke (19st 4 lbs) vs David Allen (18st 5 lbs)
10 Round Heavyweight Bout
Mark Heffron (11st 13 lbs) vs Jack Cullen (11st 13 lbs)
12 Round British Super-Middleweight Title Bout
Mikaela Mayer (10st 1lbs 5oz) vs Silvia Bortot (9st 13lbs)
10 Round Super-Lightweight Bout
Florian Marku (10st 6lbs 5oz) vs Dylan Moran (10st 5lbs)
10 Round Welterweight Bout
Sky Sports Stream
Lauren Price (10st 6lbs 5oz) vs Lolita Muzeya (10st 7lbs 5oz)
8 Round Welterweight Bout
Frankie Stringer (9st 9lbs 5oz) vs Engel Gomez (9st 8lbs)
6 Round Lightweight Bout