“I never would have believed this could happen.”
Chris Eubank Jr’s words came back to haunt him in his first fight with Liam Smith.
The first episode of Behind The Ropes gives an inside view of Eubank’s stunned reaction to being stopped by Smith in their January contest.
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Eubank Jr described Smith as a ‘one-hit wonder’ after the two met virtually ahead of their much-anticipated rematch
It was an outcome he hadn’t envisaged. That much is shown by his pre-fight comments.
Before the first contest with Liam Smith, Eubank Jr made it abundantly clear that he didn’t think it was possible for anyone to knock him out.
“It’s never happened to me. It’s never come close to happening to me, sparring or in a fight so I can’t say that there is anybody that could do that,” he told the Sky Sports cameras.
“I’ve been blessed with this ability to absorb punishment without taking a knee, without in the fighting game we call it ‘doing the chicken dance’. When you get hit or your legs wobble and you shake and you can’t control yourself.
“I’ve never ever done anything like that. My body’s never had that reaction to taking a shot and I’ve taken flush shots on the chin and on the temple. It’s just a blessing.
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Barry Jones admits he was shocked that Eubank Jr was devastatingly knocked out in his first fight with Smith and he’s backing the Liverpudlian to win again in their rematch
“Some guys have it, some guys don’t.”
Episode one of Behind The Ropes tells the story of the build-up to their first fight as well as the bout itself.
It shows the devastating combination of punches that Smith used to badly shake up Eubank and then put him away.
But there are hints too of the difficulties Smith had to address in the fight. The cameras also go into both corners to show the ebb and flow of the contest and the differing responses within it.
Smith winks at Eubank after one of their initial rounds, his answer to Eubank’s own confidence. But one of his first remarks to his trainer between rounds is that Eubank had “longer arms than I thought,” a sign that he was finding his opponent harder to reach than anticipated.
His coach Joe McNally urged him to make Eubank work at an uncomfortable pace: “You need to keep that mental pressure on him.”
That led to some success for the Brighton man in the third round, when Eubank scored with crunching uppercuts.
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Sky Sports News’ Eleanor Roper and John Dennen reflect on the first press conference for Smith v Eubank 2
That prompted Roy Jones, the boxing legend who trained Eubank for that fight, to celebrate: “You beat his a** in that round.” While Smith’s cornerman pleaded: “Don’t stay in the oven, do you understand me?”
Then Smith delivered what to Eubank had been unthinkable. He found the knockout.
The scenes of jubilation in the winner’s changing room contrast with the desolate silence of the loser’s dressing room after the fight.
“It’s a part of the journey,” Eubank said heavily afterwards.
There could a warning there. That Eubank might have learned an invaluable lesson going into their September 2 rematch. That what you can’t believe and what is impossible are two different things.
Episode one of Behind The Ropes is out now.
