THE pay-per-view middleweight rematch between Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jr will now go ahead on July 1 at Manchester Arena.
Their original date of June 17 was shelved when Smith 33-3-1 (20) picked up an injury in training forcing the bout to be pushed back.
In January ‘Beefy’ produced a devastating fourth round finish to become the first man to stop Eubank Jr in what was his third defeat.
Despite a rematch clause already in place before a punch was thrown uncertainty grew whether we would see them fight one another again. Although Eubank Jr 32-3 (20) had posted in February that he planned to take up the option to face the Liverpudlian once more he was continually linked with another rival Conor Benn.
Following the cancellation of their fight last October any chance of a rearrangement looked dead when Benn was charged last month by UKAD for his failed drug tests.
Smith had grown impatient as he waited on what Eubank’s next move was going to be. However, in April their rematch was made official. The injury which the former super-welterweight then picked up was not thought serious enough to cancel this second grudge match with only a brief postponement needed.
