Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Smith: Who they are, why they’re fighting and where to watch it | Boxing News

Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith will finally collide on Saturday at the Manchester Arena live on Sky Sports Box Office.

Who is Chris Eubank Jr.?

Chris Eubank Jr is the son of British boxing legend Chris Eubank. In his long professional career that began over a decade ago, he has forged his own identity as a fighter.

He has fought great opponents on the British boxing scene in James DeGale, George Groves and Billy Joe Saunders.

Now 33 years old, the man from Brighton is a star in the sport. He compiled a record of 32-2 with 23 of those victories coming the distance.

Eubank Jr is known for his brutality, violence and high intensity combination punches.

Most recently he boxed Liam Williams in the latter’s hometown of Cardiff, knocking him down four times on the way to victory.

Who is Liam Smith?

Liam Smith is also from a British boxing dynasty. He and his three brothers, Paul, Stephen and Callum, are all British champions. They are all challenging for the world title. Liam and Callum’s younger brother have been world champions.

A leading British professional who made his debut in 2008. Liam Smith won the WBO welterweight world title in 2015.

The following year he met Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez in a major stadium fight in Texas. Canelo, who will go on to win titles in middleweight, super-middleweight and even light-heavyweight, caught Smith with a vicious body shot to stop him in nine rounds.

Now, despite being 34 years old, Smith has found rich form. He lost to Magomed Kurbanov in Russia, defeated Liverpool rival Anthony Fowler in his hometown and dominated Jessie Vargas and most recently Hassan Mwakinyo.

Why are they fighting?

More than seven years ago two fighters sparred. This led to a rivalry that eventually led to this war.

Eubank did not consider Smith successful against him in the sparring session, while Smith remained confident that he could go up to 160lbs and beat Eubank.

The only way to solve these questions is to fight.

They appeared to be on a collision course in early 2022 when Eubank defeated Smith’s former opponent Liam Williams. But Eubank agreed to box Conor Benn, the son of his father’s great rival Nigel Benn in October.

The fight was called off after the discovery of Conor Benn’s drug test came to light. Eubank moved on and locked in this match with Smith for January 21st.

They are the two best active middleweights in Britain and the winner will be propelled back into world title contention.

What is at stake?

No one can lose. Smith is determined to become a two-time world champion. A strong performance against Eubank will open up options for him at 160lbs. He is also highly rated in the following weight classes. He is ranked third with the WBC, second with the WBO and fourth with the WBA, so a victory would keep him on track for world honors at 154lbs as well.

For Eubank, this is his first super fight of the year and he hopes it will lead him to a mega fight with Gennadiy Golovkin or even Canelo Alvarez.

Defeating Smith would ruin all of those plans. He knew he could kill him off the road to a world title fight once and for all.

“If I don’t get a win, my career is really hard. It’s in jeopardy. Winning is the most important thing in my life at this point,” Eubank said.

“At this stage of my career, I knew I was going to lose a lot,” Smith said.

“I’m afraid of losing to someone I’m not going to lose. This scares me a lot. I think I’m not going to lose to Chris Eubank Jr.”

How can I watch?

Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Smith on Saturday 21 January at the AO Arena in Manchester. Watch live on Sky Sports Box Office.

Book now if you are a Sky TV subscriber or a Non-Sky TV subscriber.

Buy tickets here.