Liam Smith hits back at Chris Eubank Jr’s Valentine’s message with confident response
Liam Smith has hit back at Chris Eubank Jr’s Valentine’s re-match announcement with a brutal response – reminding him of their fight last month.
Smith became the first professional boxer to knock Eubank Jr down onto the canvas and stopped his opponent in the fourth round after a flurry of brutal blows. Smith, who has a professional record of 33-3, was underdog coming into the fight despite being confident of the outcome.
However, Eubank Jr was left legless by a flurry of Smith’s fourth round shots resulting in Next Gen being stopped for the first time in his career. The British middleweight rivals could return to Manchester Arena again with Boxxer looking to stage the bout on May 27.
READ MORE: Chris Eubank Jr triggers Liam Smith rematch clause despite fourth round knockout
After seeing his middleweight world title hopes ruined Eubank Jr’s trainer Roy Jones Jr teased that his fighter might move up a weight category instead of activating a rematch clause. However, the temptation of a huge revenge rematch with his rival proved too much for Eubank Jr.
Announcing that he was triggering the re-match clause in their first contract Eubank Jr tweeted: “This morning I activated the rematch clause via my lawyers & sent to my promoters @Wasserman Happy Valentines Day @LiamBeefySmith.”
(Image: @ChrisEubankJr/Twitter)
Not one to back down from a callout Smith was quick to reply posting a picture of Eubank Jr flat out on the canvas during his fourth round stoppage of their first meeting. The 34-year-old replied: “Happy Valentine’s Day. See you soon,” he followed the message with a kiss blowing emoji.
Tensions between the fighters rose in the build-up to their first grudge match amid homophobic slurs and cheating allegations during their pre-fight press conference, which Sky Sports were forced to apologise over.
“You slid into my DMs. I’m used to seeing girls in my DMs, I’m not used to seeing guys,” Eubank Jr joked. Smith then exclaimed: “You go on about girls, has anybody in this room ever seen you with a girl? You got something to tell us? You are 33 and you said on the programme you want kids.”
After being stopped in the fourth round Eubank Jr was then subject to ‘vile homophobic abuse’ from a ringside fan at the Manchester Arena.
(Image: PA)
(Image: PA)
In the aftermath of their first bout Eubank Jr claimed he had been knocked down by a “once if a lifetime” by his rival. However, since then there have been claims that Smith used an ‘illegal elbow’ which landed during a flurry of final shots.
Eubank Jr’s team are now considering an appeal to the British Boxing Board of Control but Smith says his rival’s coaches are “just clutching at straws”.
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