MANCHESTER ARENA – The career of Chris Eubank Jr, buried by so many before he enacted revenge upon Liam Smith, is far from finished. Eubank took the narrative and flipped it on its head with a pulsating redemption mission via a 10th-round stoppage.
Smith judged from the first that this would be a night of frustration – he did not realise just how infuriating it was to become. Initially smothered and unable to find his reach, he looked unrecognisable from the fighter who dispatched Eubank with a fourth-round knockout in this same arena just nine months ago.
Inexplicably, he somehow got himself off the ropes. In one onslaught, he ducked and ducked, but it took a miraculous escape from Eubank’s clutches before he earned one of the biggest roars of the night simply for staying in the game.
Knocked down in the fourth, as Smith spat out his gumshield it was widely interpreted as a ploy to buy himself a little more time. There was a feeling Eubank was expending plenty of energy and would struggle to sustain his momentum.
From the opening exchanges when he had once again looked cautious of being hit, he quickly found his stride and Smith, injured in the build-up causing the rematch to be postponed twice, could not discover any rhythm.
The ammo from Eubank’s side was as unpredictable as it was potent. As well as throwing the straighter shots, he was able to wobble Smith with flurries of punches and a string of uppercuts that he did not appear to see coming.
What happened in January could have scarred Eubank irreparably. Fighters are changed by knockouts, particularly when they endure their first so late in their career, with relatively little time to bounce back.
That made whatever influence Brian “Bomac” McIntyre could have crucial. Having been in camp only a matter of weeks, some dismissed his efforts, suggesting he could not possibly have enacted the drastic changes Eubank needed to stop history repeating itself.
Perhaps the reality was simpler – Eubank was not undone by technique last time, but complacency. He admitted himself that he had taken victory for granted and would never make the same mistake twice. Now there was even more to lose and with his career hanging in the balance at the start of the night, this was as an emphatic a performance as he could have hoped for.
At ringside, Conor Benn watched his old adversary turn into a dangerously wounded animal. Benn still does not know if or when he will officially be sanctioned to return, but a fight which delivered to this degree felt like a night off from the farce of British boxing’s last year.
The road ahead for Smith is uncertain, but he has certainly played his part in two of the brighter moments of 2023. Once the light-middleweight champion of the world, he could have been forgiven for peddling towards a quiet end to his 30s. Instead, it has produced a period of some of his greatest boxing – though this was not it.
Cut in the 10th, he had finally borne the scars of a Eubank masterclass.
Undercard results in full
Frazer Clarke’s victory over David Allen almost descended into farce, with Clarke fortunate not to be disqualified after a series of low blows. It had been totally one-sided, with Clarke dominant, but he was docked two points – and he was given prior warnings before that – as Allen continued to protest.
Allen ultimately quit at the end of the sixth round with a jaw injury and Clarke batted away any hopes he might have entertained of a rematch, insisting: “It’s a fighting game and I’m a clean fighter.
“It was never intentional, I felt a few of them were good shots,” Clarke said, accusing Allen of “trying to manipulate the referee”.
Earlier, Lauren Price had extended her record to 5-0, but perhaps not in the manner she would have liked with Lolita Muzeya unable to carry on after a clash of heads in the fifth round.
There had been some consternation about Price fighting too early on the card, before pay-per-view came into play.
Frankie Stringer also eased to a points victory in his six-rounder with Engel Gomez, the 22-year-old lightweight coming out on top by a margin of 60-54.
Florian Marku demolished Dylan Moran, a former sparring partner of Conor McGregor inside a round – 54 seconds, to be precise – before using his post-fight interview to set up a host of fights, with a range in likelihood of them actually being possible – the retired Kell Brook, Conor Benn (whose return to British boxing still faces a contest) and Josh Taylor.
This was at least a thoroughly convincing TKO from the Albanian, who had just one stoppage in his last five before the first bell.
Mikaela Mayer had no issues on her super-lightweight debut against the former European champion Silvia Bortot, who provided a decent contest but was nevertheless beaten in every round.
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Jack Cullen knocked out Mark Heffron with an extraordinary third-round left hook to claim his British and Commonwealth super-middleweight belts. When Heffron was caught early in the first round, it first looked as though it might be an aberration.
Yet Cullen perfected his range and though Heffron staggered to his feet after the knockdown, he had been seriously rocked and needed attention in his corner as the bout was called.
It started as a slow burner from Adam Azim as he eventually overcame Aram Fanyan despite a fast start from the Ukrainian and a relatively cautious opening few rounds from “The Assassin”.
There was a resilience on show that we have largely not yet needed to see from the 21-year-old, who had won all but two of his previous eight fights by knockout. Initially second-guessing his jab a little too much, Fanyan was made to pay as he began to taunt Azim in the middle rounds – from a furious eighth onwards, Azim was in total control.