Liam Smith has laughed off Chris Eubank Jr's plan to appeal against his defeat over an alleged 'illegal elbow'.
The British star earned a huge win over his domestic rival at the weekend stopping Eubank Jr in a devastating fourth round to settle their domestic grudge. Moments after the win, Smith's rival admitted he lost to the better man on the night and was going to take time to consider whether to activate his rematch clause.
However a fan-led theory emerged online which suggested Smith landed an illegal elbow on Eubank Jr during the flurry that closed the show, which was demonstrated by freeze frames. NextGen's promoter then confirmed to Sky Sports that they are considering an appeal to the British Boxing Board of Control.
If any appeal was to be successful, in a worst case scenario the result could be overturned and a contracted rematch could be enforced. However Smith has quickly put down any claims of an appeal, uploading a meme of boxing legend Mike Tyson hysterically laughing in response.
Eubank Jr's trainer Roy Jones Jr already appears to have delivered his agreement to the theory online posting a lengthy message to defend his fighter after the loss. He wrote on Instagram: "Warning! All boxers! Avoid Roy Jones Jr as a trainer! Never mind this elbow. Just avoid him. Damn, If I can take all that away from a fighter via training, no wonder I raised so much hell in my day! That almost sounds like Godly qualities, And I’m nowhere near what God is!"
It is not yet confirmed whether Eubank Jr will follow the route of an appeal but it could drop a hint that he could likely be ready to activate his rematch clause. It was the third defeat of his career which could now leave him frozen out of the world title picture, and has seen many make calls for him to retire.
Do you think Chris Eubank Jr should appeal his defeat to Liam Smith? Let us know in the comments section below
And former cruiserweight star Johnny Nelson believes he should avoid a second meeting and focus on a career rebuild. "I won't take anything away from Liam because I think he boxed brilliant," Nelson told Seconds Out. "But I think what that shows is that Chris getting down to whatever weight it is - when Chris went he was gone
"You've just got to think that if you're going to do that you have to be smart about how you do it. I wouldn't do [the rematch] at that weight, No.1. And No.2, I think there's going to be a lot of soul searching if you're torn up like that. Move up in weight. All the successes and all his talents came together, so he should actually go up to super-middleweight."
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