Chris Eubank Jr. (32-3, 23 KO) made his anticipated return to the boxing ring earlier tonight (Sat., Jan. 21, 2023) live on DAZN from inside the AO Arena in Manchester, England, as he took on fellow English fighter Liam Smith (33-3-1, 20 KO). Unfortunately for Eubank Jr., Smith showed up across the board and ended up finishing the fight with a fourth-round TKO (punches).
Eubank Jr. had never been finished in his career before this grudge match, but Smith is a fighter who had posted 19 career knockouts coming into Saturday. Maybe the long layoff left Eubank Jr. with some ring rust or maybe he simply made an error in his defense, but Smith put a beating on him in the fourth round.
It all started with a vicious combination in the corner that sent Eubanks Jr. into a tizzy and eventually left him on the canvas. After returning to his feet and passing a referee inspection Eubank Jr. was light up again with another combination. Eubank Jr. hit the canvas for a second time and the fight was waved off, despite Eubank Jr. trying to fight his way back in the direction of Smith.
Check out the finishing sequence below:
DOWN goes Eubank Jr.
Can Liam Smith close the show? #EubankJrSmith pic.twitter.com/G8FULK8jr9
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) January 21, 2023
And he does it, @LiamBeefySmith with the gigantic stoppage win #EubankJrSmith pic.twitter.com/4EBpBuQsxj
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) January 21, 2023
For my peeps that missed it Eubank just got finished pic.twitter.com/kdW10EiC3o
— Heavyweight Thanos (@MMAThanos) January 21, 2023
Chris Eubank Jr’s right eye after being knocked out by Liam Smith… pic.twitter.com/13ut95BoMV
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) January 21, 2023
Smith, 34, has now won his last four trips to the ring including a stoppage over veteran Jesse Vargas just under one year ago. Given the bad blood coming into this weekend and Eubank Jr. never being finished in his professional boxer career this may be the biggest win for Smith to date.
Thoughts?