Chris Eubank Jr has been warned against exercising his rematch clause with Liam Smith by former cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson, and advised to move back up to super-middleweight.
The Brighton native decided four years ago after his win over James DeGale for the IBO title at 168lb that he would move down in weight in order to pursue one of the major belts, and his long-time rival Gennady Golovkin. But after struggling to book fights with world-level opponents during the pandemic, he finally matched against a fighter near the top of the division in Liam Smith.
Unfortunately for Eubank Jr, despite a good start to the contest with Smith on Saturday night in Manchester, he was viciously knocked out in the fourth and injured under his eye. And Nelson believes that he needs the extra weight to be able to compete at the top level, with his punch resistance seemingly lessened at 160lb.
