Destroyer Smith urges Eubank to swerve rematch
THE devastating resolution of the most bitter of British grudge fights came out of the blue here in Manchester. So swift and shocking that nobody saw it coming. Least of all Chris Eubank Jnr.
no one that is except Liam Smith, at 34 the second youngest of the Liverpool family of four fighting brothers, who glimpsed an opportunity and pounced on his rival like a ravenous tiger devouring a hyena who had dared to mock him.
One minute Eubank was unloading right uppercuts. A split-second later he was down and reeling out of world-title contention. Those aspirations had been transferred on to Smith’s pale shoulders.
The only plausible way back to the top for the celebrity son of a legendary father would appear to be via a rematch.
Eubank tweeted his intention to trigger a clause in his contract to that effect. Smith is ready and willing to inflict another dose of punishment but wonders if it will be necessary, saying: ‘Chris was texting out of pride and a bruised ego. Give him time to mull it over.’
Eubank, 33, left the building with his right cheek swollen in a way which hinted at a bone fracture. The several weeks that will take to heal may allow for wiser counsel.
Perhaps from Chris Snr, who congratulated Smith on being the first opponent to make his boy crumble.
Smith hinted that his loftiest ambition is to fight on the hallowed Anfield turf of his beloved Liverpool Football Club ‘against anyone’.
That could just as easily be in another Brit-buster, against Kell Brook, who is offering to come out of retirement for a bonus pay day.
Eubank could take the softer option of waiting for Conor Benn to come out of dope-test purgatory and then transfer their cancelled bout to the more enriching oil lands of the Middle East.
But he does need to reflect further on the abject condition to which he was reduced in the fourth and fateful round.
There was no foreboding of the disaster ahead as he took an early lead in the fight, moving into apparent ascendancy with that barrage of right uppercuts.
But just one such punch, from Smith’s left-hand, sent him crashing to the canvas.
Manchester is infamous for its rain but Eubank was lost in a dense fog as he climbed upright by instinct alone.
It should have been stopped by the referee then and there as he wobbled, glassy- eyed, around the ring but Victor Loughlin sent him back into the firing line.
He staggered blindly into a hail of blows, climaxed by a vicious right hook which dropped him again.
There was much courage in the attempt to rise once more but now Loughlin was ready to show mercy.
Whether it came soon enough to save Eubank’s career remains to be seen.
Smith, however, is in paradise regained.
LIAM SMITH was less successful in his second career yesterday, turning up to play for his Sunday league team Custys in Liverpool hours after his victory in the ring.
Champion turned centre back Smith dragged a last-minute penalty wide as Custys were beaten 1-0 by Pineapple FC in the national cup.