Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jr’s war of words has begun after the two met for the first time since their megafight was confirmed.
Coming face-to-face in London on Tuesday afternoon, Smith and Eubank Jr exchanged words during a fiery press conference.
Smith, who is a former world champion, is stepping up to middleweight to take on his British rival at the AO Arena in Manchester on January 21.
And no sooner had Eubank taken his seat at the top table, he declared he could prepare for 'Beefy' on a diet of fast food and only needed to be firing at 50 percent to win.
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"That's just him being him," Smith fired back in response. "You come in at 50 percent, please do. What are you paying Roy Jones [his trainer] for then? Why put a rematch clause in?
"I know his whole team know this is a lot tougher fight for him which is why this rematch clause got put in place. He doesn't make the weight as great as he makes out.
"He holds a good shot. His chin will get tested and his body will get tested too. I can knock anyone out, especially with 10 ounce gloves on."
Eubank then responded, saying: "The bad guy is back. He never cheats, he never lies, he never cuts any corners but he's still the bad guy. Isn't that incredible?
"I think this is going to be the funnest [sic] fight I've had for quite some time. The styles are going to gel excellently. It can't be a boring fight.”
Before adding: "[It's] one that I'm going to be able to win with a fair amount of ease. With you as soon as there's an opening, you're going to be on the canvas. You know how to give up.
"You know how to take a knee and look at your corner. You know how to lay down like the old dog that you are."
Smith then responded to those claims by pointing out that Eubank has struggled every time he has attempted to step up and is only in the position he is because of his dad.
"That's a lie,” he said. "Every time you've stepped up to someone with good fundamentals you've lost.
"He's not turning up 50 percent. He turns up at 50 percent, I'll wipe the floor with him. You got a leg up because of your name."
Eubank replied quickly, saying: "It's obscene for you to talk like that. This is not about names, it's not about leg ups.
"I've dealt with this for so long, it's not even something I think about or care about. Whether I get my credit or not at this stage now it's irrelevant.
"Whether they like me or whether they don't like me, I want to be in big fights … and win. The final message will be on the night when I'm standing over him with my hand raised."
But it was Smith who had the final word of the exchange, simply saying 'good luck' in response to what he had heard from the Brighton-born fighter.
Speaking afterwards, Smith, however, did admit that his dreams of becoming a world champion for a second time would be over if he loses at the AO Arena.
"If I lose to Chris Eubank, all being said I've got no aspirations of being world champion again," he admitted.
“I'm carrying on boxing because I want to be world champion again and be in big fights and it's all led to this that I know if I turn up 100 percent I'm massively confident of beating Chris, that's why I haven't jumped at it for the six-week notice. I've taken it on my terms and in January I'll be ready.
"The pressure is on both. The pressure is on Chris because he's the middleweight, the name, the A-star, but I'll accept that.
“There's pressure on me because of the stage we are at in my career. Chris is 33, I've just turned 34, there's not much in it in that sense, we'll see in January. Whoever loses that fight, the world title fights are done."
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