LIAM SMITH reckons his gruelling “42-POUND” weight cut cost him his rematch with Chris Eubank Jr.
The former WBC light-middleweight champion suffered a tenth-round TKO defeat to his Brit rival in their second Manchester melee of the year on Saturday night.
Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith renewed their rivalry in Manchester on Saturday nightRICHARD PELHAM
GETTYEubank Jr stopped Smith in the tenth round to level their series at 1-1[/caption]
PASmith attributed the defeat to his gruelling ’42-pound’ weight cut[/caption]
Smith was dropped twice and suffered a horrific cut over his right eye before referee Kevin Parker waved off the contest but believes it was boiling himself down to 160lbs that did the real damage.
“I just couldn’t get off,” he said in the post-fight press conference. “I just feel the weight cut took a toll on me.
“From the back injury to the rescheduled date, it was like a race against time.
“From our point of view, the deadline, maybe Chris would’ve walked away from the rematch.
“It was always a race against time anyway and I feel it just played its part.
“You don’t have to be a genius to see how flat [I was] from 40 seconds of the fight.
“I just feel I couldn’t get going. The weight killed me.”
Smith, 35, was quick to dismiss the notion of his movement being limited by an ankle injury, saying: “I rolled it in around round two or three, I think.
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GETTYLiam Smith cut a dejected figure as he was given a count[/caption]
“But as I say, even the ankle part, I’ve done that before in fights. It was more just, like, being flat. That just killed me.”
Smith gave bitter rival Eubank Jr – the son of British boxing great Chris Eubank Sr – his props in the ring.
He said: “Chris was the better man tonight. I shout when I win, I take my defeat when I lose.”
He added: “I think everyone knows and Chris knows how I was with the weight, to say at the weigh-in.
“After the injury, I came down three stone and so a lot of weight to shifty in a short space of time.
“But that’s all I can put my finger on, I was flat, flat as they come from the get go I couldn’t move my feet and Chris was sharp early on so fair play to him.”
Eubank Jr put the bad blood aside after having his hand raised to hail Smith’s valiant effort.
He said: “I had to beat Liam tonight. I threw so many punches, the lettering on my shorts fell off, it’s incredible.
“But listen, Liam is a warrior, I respect him, I respect his whole team and his family and his brothers.
“They always come out, they always put it on the line. He didn’t give up, he fought till the last second. So big up to Liam and his team.”
GETTYChris Eubank Jr believes he silenced his critics by stopping Liam Smith[/caption]