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Chris Eubank Jr believes stoppage from Liam Smith came too soon, should’ve been afforded more leeway

Chris Eubank Jr says both Liam Smith and himself were robbed of a conclusive ending in their first fight.

Chris Eubank Jr wanted the chance to go out on his shield if that’s where the fight was headed.
Chris Eubank Jr wanted the chance to go out on his shield if that’s where the fight was headed.
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Wil Esco is an assistant editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2014.

As Chris Eubank Jr is set to rematch Liam Smith after his fourth round stoppage loss in January, Eubank Jr talks to Sky Sports and continues to assert his belief that the referee pulled the plug too quickly on that fight. Eubank Jr says the only real thing he regrets from that fight is not being afforded the chance to fight through being visibly hurt, and says that’s exactly what fighters sign up for.

“I wanted to continue. I wanted to see if I could overcome that adversity and I feel like I was robbed of that challenge. This is what we sign up for. We sign up to get hurt. We sign up for the possibility of receiving punishment.”

Eubank Jr would continue on by saying that if he were only going to receive a beating from Smith in the state that he was in, then it’s something he would’ve accepted and enjoyed — presumably because of his ‘warrior mentality.’ And because that wasn’t really allowed to happen, Eubank Jr believes they both were robbed of an opportunity.

“In my opinion, he didn’t stop me, the referee stopped me. In a sense we both got robbed there.”

As Eubank Jr went on to described himself as a grizzled veteran of the sport, he says he’s fully aware of how much punishment he can take, and while he was buzzed he says he was still completely aware of what was going on in the ring.

That, of course, won’t be enough to change what’s already come to pass, but Eubank Jr will have a chance to avenge his loss on June 17.

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