CHRIS EUBANK JR will return to the ring for the first time in nearly a year when he takes on Liam Smith.
The pair are set to face off in a middleweight bout at the AO Arena in Manchester on January 21.
PAChris Eubank Jr, left, and Liam Smith, right, will clash on January 21[/caption]
And while Eubank, 33, is the bookies’ favourite heading into the clash, it is a highly competitive fight to kick off British boxing in 2023.
Smith, 34, is a former world champion having claimed the WBO light-middleweight title in 2016.
He ended up relinquishing the belt to pound-for-pound star Canelo Alvarez and has gone on to lose on two more occasions against Jaime Munguia and Magomed Kurbanov.
But he has been more active in recent times, beating Jessie Vargas and Hassan Mwakinyo in the last nine months.
By contrast, Eubank has not fought since defeating Liam Williams by unanimous decision in February 2022.
He was scheduled to face Conor Benn in a much-anticipated catchweight fight in October.
But the bout fell through when Benn failed a drugs test.
So how do Eubank and Smith match up? Well, SunSport has taken a look at the tale of the tape.
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How Eubank and Smith stack up ahead of their middleweight bout
Smith is one year older than Eubank and has had two more professional fights.
The Liverpudlian also turned pro three years earlier than his British rival.
The pair share the same number of wins – 32 – but Smith has one more loss on his record.
The former world champion’s three defeats compare to Eubank’s two – which came at the hands of Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves.
Eubank has four more knockouts, although neither man is known as a particularly huge puncher.
But when it comes to size, Smith does have a little deficit to make up.
He is more than an inch smaller, has been operating at 154lbs until recently, and has a four-inch reach disadvantage.