Not even Chris Eubank Jr.’s trainer is giving Liam Smith much of a chance.
Roy Jones Jr., the Hall of Fame fighter and trainer of Eubank, has been preparing his charge to take on former 154-pounder Liam Smith in a 12-round middleweight bout Jan. 21 at AO Arena in Manchester, England. The bout came together after Eubank’s scheduled 157-pound catchweight matchup with welterweight Conor Benn was derailed after Benn tested positive for a banned substance.
The ever-confident Eubank, who lives in Brighton, has been downright contemptuous of Smith, a solid if unspectacular bruiser, throughout the leadup to their fight, saying things like he does not need to be at full strength to defeat the Liverpool native, or spar that many rounds, and so on and so forth.
Jones apparently shares the same sentiment.
In a recent interview, Jones said that he works with Eubank not to train him for the likes of Liam Smith or Eubank’s previous opponent, Liam Williams, but to get ready him for bigger game, names such as Gennadiy Golovkin, the unified middleweight titlist, or Canelo Alvarez, the undisputed 168-pound champion. In the past few years they’ve partnered together, Jones has worked to add more finesse to Eubank’s usual balls-to-the-walls strategy.
“Chris don’t need me to beat these guys (Liam Williams or Liam Smith), because the fighting Chris Eubank can beat both of these guys,” Jones Jr said on Sky Sports’ Toe2Toe podcast. “He don’t bring me in for these particular fighters, he brings me in here to help him get better prepared for [fighters] with bigger names, like a GGG (Golovkin) or Canelo.
“Because with these guys (Golovkin, Alvarez), you can’t be the old Chris that just goes out and lets his hands go, you’ve got to be a tactician, you’ve got to have a little bit more knowledge behind what you’re doing. He brings me here to get him ready for the fights that he’s looking at down the line, not necessarily a particular Liam Smith or Liam Williams. I told him from the beginning, with Liam Williams and Liam Smith, he don’t need me. Neither one of these guys. The old Chris Eubank can beat both of these guys, so I’m not saying that I’m the guy –I’m not. I’m gonna add what I’m gonna add but it’s his choice to use it and he’s gotta go out and do it.”
“He’s looking down the line at the bigger fights where he knows he’s going to need more than just blasting people out with combinations. That won’t work against these bigger guys, against Canelo or GGG.” Jones added.