Liam Smith has claimed Chris Eubank Jr was "terrified" in their fight when comparing it to their sparring session.
Smith made a huge statement, dropping and stopping British star Eubank Jr inside the opening four rounds of their grudge fight in Manchester last year, despite being significant underdog. His rival had access to a rematch clause and after exploring his options has decided to activate it which will see the pair meet again on June 17 at the AO Manchester Arena.
In the build-up, the pair had exchanged verbal barbs over a previous sparring session they shared seven years ago when Smith's brother Paul was preparing to face Arthur Abraham. Both men were confident that they were the one to have had the upper hand with the secret staying firmly within the walls of the gym.
However when asked by reporters, Smith has claimed Eubank Jr showed a much different attitude when the pair shared four training rounds. "I thought he was terrified. I can't shy away from it, he was closing his eyes he looked scared of getting hit." Smith said when comparing their fight to sparring. "That is why I wouldn't be surprised if he was knocked out in the gym.
"Because of how it's ended [professional fight], a lot's been looked into that like it was a four-round blowout, but the fight was really nip and tuck, there wasn't much in it. I started well, Chris had a good round three, and then it was over in four. It just clarified a lesson to everybody beforehand, I was basically told I couldn't hurt Chris.
"It was like I made the sparring rumour up [that he badly hurt Eubank in a gym session]. I was told you can't hurt him in the head. Many fighters will tell you there's been fighters with a better chin than Chris Eubank stopped and dropped over the years. That's the biggest lesson from that fight."
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Smith will now surprisingly go into the second contest as underdog with the bookies despite his dominant display in the same venue. A second win for the Liverdpudlian could see him thrust into a world-title shot at middleweight, while Eubank Jr could be left pursuing potentially lucrative domestic clashes.
His rival suggested defeat to Smith could have spelled retirement from the sport in the maiden clash, but has this time suggested he refuses to entertain life without gloves on for now. No, no," Eubank Jr said. "I’m not travelling down that road again in terms of entertaining that word and that thought process, it is unhealthy.
"It doesn’t benefit me in any way, shape or form. I see it as weakness and so yes, I’m not entertaining that. Like I say retirement is not in my mindset, so there is no hanging around, I’m going to be fighting and I’m going to be winning and I’m going to becoming a world champion."
