Chris Eubank Jr suffered a devastating defeat to Liam Smith on Saturday in Manchester as he was brutally knocked out in the fourth round; Eubank Jr’s promoter Kalle Sauerland has revealed they have “a few weeks” to decide whether to activate a rematch clause
Sunday 22 January 2023 23:21, UK
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Chris Eubank Jr will “let the dust settle” before making a decision on whether to activate a rematch clause to face Liam Smith again, according to his promoter.
Eubank Jr suffered a devastating defeat to Smith on Saturday in Manchester as he was brutally knocked out by the former world champion in the fourth round.
Kalle Sauerland, Wasserman’s head of global boxing, revealed that Eubank Jr has “a few weeks” to make a decision over the possible rematch, but insisted that there is “a score to be settled”.
“We obviously have that rematch clause, but we’ll let the dust settle,” Sauerland told Sky Sports.
“We’ve got a few weeks to activate that. We’ll take an internal discussion, see what the best way forward is for Jr and go from there.
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“For sure, that score obviously needs to be settled, but take nothing away from Beefy, it was a fantastic victory for him and congratulations to him and the whole Smith family.”
A close contest appeared to be unfolding after a competitive opening three rounds at the AO Arena, before Smith landed a brilliant pair of left hands to send Eubank Jr to the canvas for the first time in his professional career.
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The 33-year-old bravely got to his feet and carried on, but was immediately caught with another heavy right hand and floored once more, which led to the referee stopping the fight.
“It was a night of high drama,” Sauerland added.
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“I think it was one of the biggest upsets in recent times, for sure.
“We were victim to a great punch from the gods.
“I think it was setting up to be a very good fight. I thought, especially in the third round, Jr was coming into it very strongly.
“And then came that punch, and that’s boxing. That’s the exciting part of the sport, and I’m sure there’s a score to be settled down the road.”
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