There was less drama when Chris Eubank Jr. and Liam Smith stepped on the scale Friday afternoon than occurred during their final press conference Thursday.
Eubank and Smith made weight without incident a day after trading very personal insults at their press conference in Manchester, England. Smith repeatedly questioned Eubank’s sexuality and Eubank eventually claimed Smith regularly cheats on his wife while they were on stage Thursday, which could cause the British Boxing Board of Control to take action against Smith (https://www.boxingscene.com/bbbofc-consider-misconduct-charges-against-smith-eubank-jr-following-heated-press-conference--171933).
On Friday, the British rivals both came in a full pound beneath the middleweight limit for their 12-round, 160-pound main event Saturday night at AO Arena in Manchester.
Smith and Eubank both stepped on the BBBofC’s scale at 159 pounds. There was an extended faceoff after they made weight, but only Smith spoke while they stood in front of each other.
The 33-year-old Eubank, of Brighton, England, is listed by most sportsbooks as an approximate 3-1 favorite over the 34-year-old Smith, of Liverpool, England.
Sky Sports Box Office will televise Eubank-Smith as the headliner of a pay-per-view show in the United Kingdom and Ireland (£19.95; 6 p.m. GMT). DAZN will stream the Eubank-Smith card in the United States, starting at 1 p.m. ET, and various other countries.
Eubank (32-2, 23 KOs) will fight for the first time since he dropped Wales’ Liam Williams (24-4-1, 19 KOs) four times on his way to a 12-round, unanimous-decision victory last February 5 at Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. His high-profile showdown with British rival Conor Benn was canceled October 6, two days before their 12-round, 157-pound bout was supposed to take place at O2 Arena in London, because Benn tested positive for clomifene, a banned performance-enhancing drug.
Eubank’s fight with Smith was scheduled shortly thereafter.
Smith (32-3-1, 19 KOs), a former WBO junior middleweight champ, most recently stopped Tanzania’s Hassan Mwakinyo (20-3, 14 KOs) in the fourth round of their September 3 bout at Echo Arena in Liverpool. Smith has won three straight bouts, all by technical knockout, since Russian contender Magomed Kurbanov (24-0, 13 KOs) out-pointed him unanimously in their 12-rounder in May 2021 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
