By Barry Holbrook: Chris Eubank Jr wore a rainbow-colored armband on Friday during the weigh-in with Liam Smith Jr after he questioned his sexual preference last Thursday at the final press conference.
Eubank Jr (32-2, 23 KOs) and Smith (32-3-1, 19 KOs) weighed in at 159 lbs for their 12-round non-title fight at middleweight this Saturday night on January 21st at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
The gray-haired 34-year-old Smith looked considerably smaller than Eubank Jr despite weighing the same as him. For his part, Eubank Jr appeared to be fatigued from his efforts to reach the 160-lb limit.
“They’re both at the peak of their games, and they both understand what this is all about,” said Roy Jones Jr to iFL TV about Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith.
“I didn’t change the game plan because I wasn’t here for Conor Benn [training camp], so I came in and started in where I left off at.
“The thing about Liam is that he would be a modern-day Marvin Hagler. He’s not extremely strong, and he’s not extremely explosive, but he’s consistent. What he does well, he’ll do it all night.
“So if you know that about him, he’s a very professional guy and a very high-level fighter,” Roy continued about Liam Smith. “He stays consistent all night. So if you let him stay there and get his momentum going.
“If you try to hurt him early or get him cut early, now you’ve got a better chance because if you let him get momentum and get momentum, he can really be a problem.
“The loser goes to a different place. It’ll all depend on what the loser wants to do. What Liam wants to do, what Chris wants to do. Chris ain’t going to lose. It depends on what Liam wants to do. I don’t know what the loser is going to do. It’s not my job.
“It all depends on Chris Eubank Jr. I’m a guy that if he asks me to train him, I’m going to train him,” said Jones Jr when asked if he’d like to train Eubank Jr for the Conor Benn fight.
“If he says, ‘My dad got it, he got it. Of course, I always like to be in camp with him because he’s a guy that listens to what I teach, and he applies it to his sport, so I love that,” said Roy.
