Chris Eubank Jr reveals he will face Liam Smith next on September 2 at the O2 Arena… and NOT Conor Benn despite Eddie Hearn’s insistence
- Chris Eubank Jr claims he will face Liam Smith on September 2 at the O2 Arena
- Sky Sports have not officially announced the fight date and venue as of yet
- Eddie Hearn had indicated that a fight with Conor Benn was a possibility next
Chris Eubank Jr has indicated that he will rematch Liam Smith at the O2 Arena, London on September 2 after the fight was postponed due to an injury sustained by the Liverpudlian.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote: ‘Eubank vs Smith 2 at the O2 September 2nd @LiamBeefySmith #LetsDoThis #NoMoreExcuses #Revenge.’
There were suggestions from Eddie Hearn that the Eubank Jr may face Conor Benn next but it appears ‘Next Gen’ will instead run it back with Smith, eight months removed from his devastating knockout loss in Manchester.
Eubank Jr was dropped and stopped for the first time in his professional career against ‘Beefy’ and is now out for revenge.
The Brighton boxer activated the rematch clause inserted in their contracts back in February and was originally expected to box Smith on June 17 at the AO Arena, Manchester – the scene of their inaugural encounter.
Chris Eubank Jr is expected to rematch Liam Smith on September 2 at the O2 Arena, London
The second fight has been postponed twice due to a ‘nagging injury’ sustained by Smith
Smith knocked out Eubank Jr when they last fought on January 21 at the AO Arena, Manchester
A fight with Conor Benn had been floated around by Eddie Hearn but that won’t come next now
But the fight was postponed to July 1 to give Smith more time to recover from a ‘nagging injury’ before it was pushed back again for the same reason.
With no new date locked in for quite some time, Hearn suggested that Eubank Jr and Benn could land at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 23, dependant on Benn’s imminent doping verdict.
However, despite Hearn’s insistence that there was an ‘offer on the table’, Eubank Jr’s promoter Kalle Sauerland is adamant that they won’t entertain the bout until UKAD complete their investigation into Benn’s failed drug tests before the pair were supposed to square off in October last year.
He told Boxing Social: ‘How can I have a discussion about Connor Benn when I don’t know a verdict?
‘I can’t hedge Jr’s career on a verdict. It’s a massive fight, bigger than before, but right now it’s not on the table, just like when people asked me if it was happening in Abu Dhabi.
‘There were no offers on the table. People thought I was playing a game but did it happen? No.’
