Revenge

It was revenge in Manchester as Chris Eubank Jr put an unforeseen beating on rival Liam Smith. 

It is a beating that pushes Smith closer to his boxing conclusion, after injuries to both ankles left him unable to fight his fight - ‘I shout when I win, and I take my defeat when I lose’. 

Eubank was heaps better than in the pairs’ first encounter. The inclusion of Bomac validated by an intelligent yet ferocious performance. It was a fight dictated behind the jab, with an uppercut in the closet. 

It was an ugly start, but Eubank looked a lot sharper than he did in the first fight, landing the cleaner punches in the first round. Whenever Smith tried to counter, Eubank would hold on.

It was the third round in which Eubank began finding success with the uppercut. It should have dealt a warning to Smith, who was rocked off his feet by the same punch in the fourth. 

A wry smile seemed to discredit the knockdown, but Smith knew he had been caught by a peach. 

Eubank began the fifth by launching an onslaught against a wounded Smith. Pinned against the ropes, Smith used just about every ounce of survival instinct to see himself through. 

But the fight was firmly in Eubank's hands. 

A body attack opened up the seventh, at which point Smith was merely a swaying punchbag. To add insult to Smith’s injury, or injuries, Eubank’s punch output did not dip. 

And with Eubank throwing, and Smith not, the fight became a tough watch. 

Having rolled both ankles in round two, Smith was unable to get any leverage to throw big shots back. This lack of threat allowed Eubank to sit in and throw heavy blows. 

But, ankles like wet noodles or not, Eubank cannot be discredited. His ability to cast aside the occasion, and dissect Smith, showed a fighter who may well have finally matured. 

An assault in round ten gave way to the inevitable, as the fight was waved off by referee Kevin Parker, thankfully. 

Eubank looked quietly jubilant in victory, with immediate focus on calling for his next opponent. 

It was a mixed bag, and perhaps a sensible one. The Conor Benn fight is huge. The Gennady Golovkin fight should have been in the history books, and Kell Brook’s career is. 

Of course money overrides everything, but for a fighter who is yet to get his hands on any version of a world title, not hearing a Jermall Charlo or Erislandy Lara was peculiar. 

Either way, British boxing may well finally have the fighter they were promised. 

British boxing may well be seeing the back of one of its finest servants too. 

On that note, let’s also appreciate the rivalry these two gave us. It was waggish, timely, and rousing, and one that reinvigorated what has been a flat domestic scene of recent.   

For Chris Eubank Jr, revenge will never not be sweet. 

Oscar Bevis