The rematch between Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jr. is set to commence on June 17th, roughly half a year since Eubank was stopped by Smith on January 21st this year. The rematch is set to occur in the Manchester Arena where they fought last also.
Though Liam Smith (33-3-1, 20 KO’s) had convincingly won in their first match which led to a technical knockout win over Chris Eubank Jr. (32-3, 23 KO’s) in just the fourth round, the rematch clause that had been included had left him with little options but to accept, despite the WBO having ordered Liam Smith to face Janibek Alimkhanuly (13-0, 8 KO’s) all the way back in February. Without the public knowing all the details, apparently that order has now been rescinded and Liam Smith will seek to topple Chris Eubank Jr. once more on June 17th, rather than challenge for the WBO world title that Alimkhanuly possesses.
The match had been noted for the pre-match banter between the two fighters that involved the two exchanging cheating allegations and gay slurs, and the match seemed to be more heated as a result, with Liam Smith ending up the winner of both his bout with Eubank Jr. and seemingly also the press-conference after everything was said and done.
Chris Eubank Jr., following his last loss to Smith, will obviously have much more to overcome. Not only has his reputation greatly suffered given certain pre-match comments he made about “not being at 100%” but maintaining that was enough to defeat Smith, but the manner in which he lost after the words exchanged between the two means a lot more than a win or loss is at stake for him.
With Smith having slammed Chris Eubank Jr. prior to the match for not being as good or tough of a boxer as his father; Chris Eubank Sr., Eubank Jr. will need to prove a lot of things on fight night given his quite-embarrassing loss to Liam Smith.
Despite the early result of their previous match, the next one will draw as many or even more eyes given the tension between both fighters and the fact that a lot of things had been left unresolved between the two whereas fighters normally patch things up after a fight. With Chris Eubank Jr. and his team having further accused Liam Smith of delivering illegal blows during the fight, after the match was done, there is definitely some extra flair and substance to their June 17th match.
