Chris Eubank Jnr: I was complacent against Liam Smith – I will not make the same mistake

Chris Eubank Jnr was defeated in a shock stoppage in the fourth round by Liam Smith in January and faces the Liverpudlian in Manchester on Saturday with his career in an abyss if he is vanquished in the rematch by the former light-middleweight world champion.

This week, Eubank has dismissed his first career stoppage defeat as a “miracle punch” from his foe his but now 33, and with his world title aspirations slipping away, the son of British boxing legend Chris Eubank prove to be simply the best, in word and deed.

Eubank Jnr has promised “an exquisite and supernatural” victory over the rugged, tenacious Smith (himself 35) and for this cliff-hanger contest, has switched trainers after two years with the American hall of fame boxer Roy Jones Jnr, to Brian McIntyre. McIntyre has overseen the rise of welterweight king Terence Crawford to his standing as widely-regarded No 1 pound-for-pound boxer on the planet.

McIntyre – known as ‘BoMac’ – has been in camp with Eubank in Las Vegas, where the Brighton-raised fighter has a penchant for poker and a love of the gyms and sparring partners that Sin City always offers. The pair appear to have gelled well, and even Jones Jnr has offered his advice, which is for Eubank to meet Smith in the middle rather than box and move, as he did in the first fight until the fateful fourth stanza. Eubank crumpled in that round uncharacteristically, and has given his reasons for his below-par performance.

Eubank has watched that first fight with Smith back, analysed what went wrong and has been soul-searching - and believes he had a bad weight cut, and was careless. Deeply aware that the resurrection of his career requires a powerful statement, Eubank told The Daily Telegraph: “He’ll have the mindset that I had in the first fight, of being extremely confident of victory. But I’m extremely confident that I’m going to go out there and win.”

He added: “For sure, I’ve watched it. I cut weight in a certain way for the first time in my career before that fight, that won’t be happening again, but I’m not putting the loss down to that. I was dominant, I was winning the fight, I was comfortable for those first three rounds, he didn’t touch me, and I guess I got complacent. That was the mistake. I gave him the opportunity to do what he did, so that’s boxing 101 – protect yourself at all times. I didn’t do that and I paid the price and I’ve learnt from that mistake. It will never happen again.”

Eubank exudes confidence, as he always has indeed, something in the DNA of the Eubank name. Yet Smith has been equally resolute in this week’s build-up that it will be repeat and not revenge when they rematch.  Eubank responds to that, convinced that he still – remarkably – has the upper hand when that first bell rings. 

“For sure he will have a confidence about him that he didn’t have for the first fight. But there’s a difference between saying it and really believing. Now he can believe it because he has a win over me, so it’s going to be interesting to see how that transfers over into the fight once that bell goes.”

Happy fighter, determined fighter, and the signs are that camp has gone well. “I’m never having a training camp in Brighton again, it was miserable, literally miserable for the last camp I had for Liam. Freezing cold gyms, having to go out and run in the freezing cold, having to wear six layers, it’s brutal, out in Nevada you’ve got the sun, and just for morale it’s just such a better environment.”

McIntyre, he insisted to Telegraph Sport, an astute tactician and strategist has brought a new rigour and vigour. “I have a completely new team now, coach BoMac, the stars have kind of aligned and they were all out in Vegas training and fighting [at the Crawford vs Errol Spence world title]. 

“We were in touch before the fight and we said once that fight’s over, we’ll get to work, and that’s exactly what we did. We were in the gym together on the Monday after the fight, and obviously watching how Terence performed, that gave me huge encouragement, these guys really do know what they’re doing, so yeah I’m very excited to see what we can achieve moving forward.”

If Eubank does avenge his defeat, there is still the potential draw of the collapsed multi-million pound mega-fight with Conor Benn, the event cancelled last October when Benn tested positive for the banned substance clomifene.

“That fight will be there regardless but Conor Benn is irrelevant here, he has nothing to do with my wanting to win this fight,” Eubank said. “I want to win this fight because I want to win every fight. I know I’m a better fighter than Smith, and for people to think or say otherwise, it upsets me, so I have to make that right. 

“They have the argument now, that Smith is the better man, the better fighter, they have the argument cause he has the win over me, so I have to take that argument away. If he does it again then there’s no argument there’s just fact that he is the better man and I can’t live with that so I have to make sure I go in there and I do what I know I can do.”

It is a fascinating rematch, with Eubank the one who must make all the adjustments and come with a higher guard, stepping into his shots more from the off, and making his presence known. I’m expecting a longer fight and more engagement from both, and although Eubank is the bigger man, Smith might just have his number. Smith points, or late stoppage.