Liam Williams is effectively conscious that Chris Eubank Jr. has some benefits over Liam Smith.
Wales’ Williams, the one opponent to face Eubank and Smith, nonetheless thinks Smith will win their 12-round middleweight match Saturday evening at AO Enviornment in Manchester, England. Williams acknowledged that Eubank hits more durable than Smith, but he expects Smith’s boxing IQ and protection to assist the previous WBO junior middleweight champion upset Eubank.
“I feel Smith is gonna win,” Williams informed Sky Sports activities for a phase the community aired and streamed on its YouTube channel. “I feel it’s gonna be an important combat however, however I feel Smith might be gonna win.”
Eubank (32-2, 23 KOs) and Smith (32-3-1, 19 KOs) have each crushed Williams by unanimous choice in 12-round fights.
Eubank knocked Williams (24-4-1, 19 KOs) to the canvas 4 occasions, as soon as apiece within the first, second, fourth and eleventh rounds. Eubank beat Williams by scores of 117-109, 116-109 and 116-108 final February 5 at Motorpoint Enviornment in Cardiff, Wales.
Smith stopped Williams as a consequence of two cuts on his proper eyelid after the ninth spherical in April 2017 on the identical venue the place Eubank and Smith will meet Saturday evening. Smith then beat Williams by majority choice of their 12-round rematch, which happened in November 2017 at Metro Radio Enviornment in Newcastle, England.
Whereas Williams respects Eubank’s energy, he views Smith as a extra well-rounded fighter.
“I feel it’s a case of Liam Smith has an excellent novice background, he’s well-schooled, he’s bought good protection, good head motion, the place he’s simply bought all of the fundamentals down,” Williams mentioned. “And also you don’t all the time have to be fancy to win and dazzling to be an efficient fighter. Yeah, so I simply assume for them causes alone he’s bought all bases coated.”
Williams believes Eubank could have a tricky time hitting Smith, who has been stopped solely by Canelo Alvarez, with the kind of flush punches that would knock him out.
“Liam Smith will in all probability be simpler to hit, however you’d by no means catch him clear,” Williams mentioned. “There can be gloves and arms and shoulders [deflecting those punches]. I feel Eubank had a greater protection another way. It was like due to his ft. He was transferring out and in of vary and that’s clearly why I couldn’t put him down. However Smith, purely protection as you’d understand it, arms up, tight guard, he’s higher in that sense.”
Most oddsmakers have put in Brighton’s Eubank as a 3-1 favourite to beat Liverpool’s Smith. Their combat will headline a Sky Sports activities Field Workplace pay-per-view present in the UK and Eire (£19.95; 6 p.m. GMT) and a DAZN stream in the USA (1 p.m. ET; 10 a.m. PT).
Keith Idec is a senior author/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He may be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.