There was a point, shortly after the fight between Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith, when it looked like peace might break out between the two men. Smith sounded genuinely contrite over his childish innuendo directed at Eubank during the pre-fight publicity gatherings. Eubank, for his part, expressed genuine admiration for Smith as a fighter, and the potential for a rematch was floated by both fighters. It now seems that the peace may be prematurely disrupted.
While bettors from sitesnotongamstop.com – who saw their Eubank bet disappear as he struggled to his feet after the match – might be pleased to hear the latest from the Eubank camp, few others will be. It appears that Eubank and his management are giving credence to the suggestion that Smith hit his opponent with an elbow as part of the flurry that won the match for the Liverpool fighter. Not only that, but they may be prepared to appeal the result of the match with the British Boxing Board of Control, with a view to overturning the result if the appeal is upheld.
Will the appeal be upheld?
No idea. If an appeal is lodged, the BBBC will look forensically at as many angles as they can find from the match footage, and see whether there is legitimacy in the appeal. If they choose to uphold the appeal, Smith’s win will be struck from the record. No titles were on the line in this fight, so nobody will be stripped of any belt, but Smith would see, at the age of 34, perhaps the biggest win of his career being erased from history. That’s probably not going to take the heat out of any potential rematch between the two.
Will there be a rematch?
This is boxing, so the answer to this question is “maybe. Probably, I don’t know”. When asked recently who he wanted to fight next, Smith mentioned a rematch with Eubank as well as a showdown with Gennadiy Golovkin. Eubank does have a rematch clause, but he hasn’t expressed an immediate intent to use it. Also, if the original match is consigned to non-history, then contractually any meeting between Eubank and Smith wouldn’t be a rematch, so it’s hard to say where things would stand legally. But if Smith chose to turn his back on any new fight with Eubank, it’s unlikely he could be forced to take one.
What does this mean for Smith?
Probably nothing. The tariff of proof that an illegal blow was thrown is high, and to overturn the result they would need to be certain it happened. If they do find this to be the case and can prove it, Smith could save face by saying it happened by mistake as he went for a finishing shot. Or he could double down and claim bias against him – with Eubank Jr’s pro boxing bloodline as the perfect aggravant to that claim. Either way, the chance for this all to become as fraught as the original leadup to the fight seems to be considerable,