Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith scrap to save boxing’s troubled reputation

Saturday’s evenly matched middleweight grudge match can lighten the shadow cast by Conor Benn’s failed drug tests

FACE-OFF: Chris Eubank Jr (left) and Liam Smith during a press conference at the Manchester Central Convention Complex.

British boxing’s first significant fight of the year, between Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith in Manchester on Saturday night, is a superior matchup to the controversial and postponed bout which cast such deep shadows over a troubled sport last October. 

Three months ago, Eubank Jr was meant to face Conor Benn in a heavily hyped catchweight promotion built on the enmity between their fathers over 30 years ago.