After the Fight: Liam Smith’s KO makes for a ‘Beefy’ future

After Liam “Beefy’ Smith scored that shocking TKO victory over Chris Eubank Jr, what’s next for the junior middleweight contender?

Although Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith (33-3-1) was coming off a three-fight win streak, those who follow the sport always looked at Smith as the guy that couldn’t win the big one. He’s been in there with the likes of Jessie Vargas, Liam Williams, and Anthony Fowler but came up short against names like Jaime Munguia and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. This is why Smith was immediately deemed as a slight underdog and even a bigger one during fight week to score a TKO/KO victory over Chris Eubank Jr. The oddsmakers certainly missed that one as Smith scored the upset TKO victory on DAZN.

When looking back at the fight, there wasn’t any moment to point at and say, ‘yup, Smith is going to knockout out Eubank Jr.’ because there wasn’t. Smith seemed overmatched early in the first and second rounds as Eubank Jr. was gaining more and more confidence with every second that passed. Eubank Jr. was pumping that jab, and the undersized Smith couldn’t get inside. Maybe that was the strategy all along which was to gas Eubank Jr out but someone needed to let Smith’s corner know that, as there were signs of frustration from them after each round.

In the third round, it seemed like Smith was waking up and trying to take more chances by making his way inside and landing whatever he could, but Eubank Jr. started to switch his offense from overhand rights to left and right uppercuts. Although Smith was using his high guard towards the end of the round, Eubank Jr.’s punches kept penetrating Smith’s defense.

Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith scored a tremendous fourth round TKO to upset middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr.

By the start of the fourth round, you can see that Eubank Jr.’s confidence was sky-high, and he felt as though the fight would continue to go in his direction until it didn’t. Smith was cutting the ring off successfully and, in one of the series, forced Eubank Jr. into a corner. Smith landed a right hand and then a left hook which sent Eubank Jr. crashing down for the first knockdown in the fight. When Eubank Jr. got up, his legs were gone, and he was stumbling to meet the referee’s demands to continue to fight. I guess the referee allowed him to survive the round as the fight was big enough to sell out the Manchester Arena in Manchester, U.K. Once the referee allowed Eubank Jr. to continue, Smith jumped all over him and threw every punch he could as he knew the end was near. Eubank Jr. fell once again, and the referee quickly pulled the plug on the fight. Smith earns a fourth-round TKO but, more importantly, wins back the respect he’s lost in the past few years as a contender.

After the fight and during the post-fight interview, some comments were made about a possible rematch as Eubank Jr. felt he could have continued even with the golf ball-sized swelling he had underneath his right eye. It looks as though Smith wasn’t opposed to it but would want it more on his terms than Eubank’s. The options at junior middleweight for a title shot aren’t likely this year, so his best option would be the rematch or one of the champions at middleweight if the fight can be made. Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, and Janibek Alimkhanuly all do not have an opponent to face, so those could be realistic options. One thing is for sure, Smith has boosted his profile enough to give him another run at a title in the near future. At 34 years of age, it could be his last opportunity to strike gold again before riding out to the sunset.