Former four division champion Roy Jones Jr. views Liam Smith as a bigger threat than Conor Benn.
Chris Eubank Jr, who is trained by Jones, was scheduled to face Benn last year in a catch-weight fight. The event was canceled when Benn tested positive for a banned substance.
On Saturday in Manchester, Eubank will collide with Smith in a middleweight contest. The experienced Smith previously held the WBO world title at 154-pounds.
"For most fighters it would be very difficult adjusting from one fight to another, but he seems to be handling it pretty well. This was the thing I was concerned about most. He was getting ready for a guy like Conor Benn in a big family feud type fight. He then had to adjust to Liam Smith where there's no feud but more of a threat," Jones told Vegas Insider.
“It's almost like a trap. You're now fighting Liam Smith, there's not much hype around Liam but this guy is much better than the other guy who had a lot of hype about him.
“That said, I do agree with Chris that in some ways Conor is a tougher fight than Liam. He's sparred Liam before whereas he has not sparred Benn. Smith and Benn have their own weaponry and he I think fares better with the weaponry of Liam Smith than he does the weaponry of Benn."
Should Eubank win, Jones would prefer to see him face WBA, IBF, IBO middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin.
However, there is also the option of rescheduling the fight with Benn.
"If Benn's not available after Smith, I like Gennady Golovkin. But if it is Benn, then I like that fight, but it has dangers to it. A loss to Benn would be a drastic loss," Jones said.
“It's a dangerous fight because Benn's coming up in weight and we are not, we're going down. But Golovkin would be a better fight because we've got more to prove and more to gain than in the Benn fight. I know Chris has the tools to beat Golovkin. I always prefer fights like Golovkin where people think we can't win, the 50-50 fights, those are the fights where you make a splash."