Middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr 33-3 (24) may well have delivered a near flawless performance against Liam Smith 33-4-1 (20) on Saturday, but not everyone was impressed.
Eubank Jr dominated the fight, dropping Smith twice at the AO Arena in Manchester, England before referee Kevin Parker called a halt to the contest at 1:45 of the 10th round.
It was a marked improvement from their first bout in January, which Eubank Jr lost by fourth-round knockout.
One interested observer was Eubank Jr’s nemesis Conor Benn 21-0 (14). The duo were due to fight in a 157-pound catchweight bout in October last year before Benn failed a drug test.
Benn insisted the only reason Eubank Jr was able to get away with the win was because he had an injured fighter in front of him.
“He didn’t look great, Smith made him look good,” Benn said to Fight Hub TV. “It takes you ten rounds to dispatch someone that has a broken leg or two?
“I’m not really impressed. The game plan [for Eubank Jr] was to tie him up, get his work up and tie him up, and he stuck with his game plan.
“Eubank, let’s get on with unfinished business. I wasn’t impressed tonight. You could definitely see that it was an injury. That’s what it was. I’m not impressed with Eubank at all.
“You could tell Smith wasn’t himself. You could tell the shots weren’t coming off. He wasn’t able to get out of the way of the shots and that’s all that it was. I don’t think it was an impressive performance.”
Benn added he wouldn’t have allowed the fight to go late if he was in there.
“If you have a wounded player in there, take hold of them and get them out of there. It would go one way,” he said.
“If I have someone injured in front of me, who can’t throw back, they ain’t seeing the end of the round. That’s it, period. Injuries happen in a fight and that’s the only way I believe Eubank won the fight.
“Smith made him look good tonight. Yeah, I believe Smith deserves a rematch. I [would] beat him in four. I [would] put it on him straight away. Obviously, Smith was injured in there. He didn’t look himself, but it’s a credit to him.
“[Eubank Jr] won the fight. He stuck to the game plan, threw his shots, tied him up in close and that was it.
Eubank Jr called out Benn after the victory with the welterweight contender saying he is definitely down for it.
“We could do that next, no problem,” Benn said. “If the public wants it, I’ll come up to 160, no problem. 154, 147, 160, I’ll come up. No problem, I’ll come up.”
Benn added he expects to be back in action on September 23.