Chris Eubank Jr.’s Promoters Doesn’t Think Weight Was The Issue In Loss To Liam Smith
Chris Eubank Jr.’s promoter, Kalle Sauerland, doesn’t think the weight was an issue for his stoppage loss to Liam Smith.
After Eubank Jr.’s fight against Conor Benn fell off due to a failed drug test on Benn’s side, he decided to face Smith instead. Although Eubank Jr. was known as a durable fighter, he suffered a fourth-round stoppage loss and Sauerland says it was just a good shot.
“It just goes to show, in boxing, that timing is everything,” Sauerland told BBC 5 Live Boxing (via BoxingScene). “It was for us, it went the wrong way.”
Right when the fight ended, many wondered if the weight was the difference as Eubank Jr. was forced to cut weight twice in a short span. However, Sauerland says that is not true at all, and instead he says the KO was just the nature of boxing as everyone gets caught at some point.
“No, there’s no excuses,” Sauerland continued. “There’s absolutely [no excuses]—we have no excuses. Look, the [Smith] fight was made at middleweight. He came in at 159, voluntarily. The weight’s not the issue. And I think the preparation, the performance was everything was going the right way. He walked into one … that’s the nature of the sport. Probably will see it again.”
As of right now, Chris Eubank Jr. has not triggered his rematch clause and many are uncertain if he will. Sauerland says they will talk it over and are open to rematching Smith as well as leaving the fight be.
“He’s gonna want to avenge [his loss],” Sauerland said of his client. “It’s about sitting down next week and analyzing what’s out there. We’ll be speaking with Sky, with Boxxer, around that. There is a clause. We could activate it immediately, but it’s a little bit rash to say that right now. I don’t actually feel deflated. I feel shocked. It’ll probably hit me tomorrow. We said it was an elite fight. I said it was a live fight. …Most experts were asking me, ‘Who’s next.’ I said, ‘Don’t look past Liam Smith, this is a live fight.’”
Do you think Chris Eubank Jr. will trigger his rematch clause?
