STAR PREVIEW Sat: Chris Eubank Jr v Liam Williams

Nothing gets British boxing fans more excited than a domestic grudge match and we could be about to witness one for the ages in Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena this weekend. Chris Eubank Jr will travel to the lion’s den to take on Welshman Liam Williams in a fight that could put the winner on the edge of a world title shot.

Chris Eubank Jr will enter the fight as the (1/3) favourite despite being the away fighter but has made it clear in the build-up that expects to win this fight inside the distance. The 32-year-old has enjoyed a decent career so far but it has never quite reached the heights that some predicted it would when he initially burst on the scene.

Boxing is a results driven business and when you dig into the record of Eubank (31-2 23KO), it isn’t as impressive as he or his team would have you believe. In a professional career that has spanned eleven years, the Brighton based fighter only has three notable wins. Two of those wins were against ageing fighters in James Degale and Arthur Abraham and the other was against Avni Yildirim, who has proven in recent years to be a fringe European level fighter at best.

His two defeats against George Groves and Billy Joe Saunders came in fights when he was matched evenly and that doesn’t make good reading for Eubank backers this weekend. This is the first fight since Degale in 2019 that Eubank is matched with someone of similar ability and he will need to prove that he can successfully come through a 50/50 fight.

The career of Liam Williams is a similar story. The Welshman turned professional in 2011, just like Eubank Jr, and it wasn’t long before he was being talked about as future world title contender. Things were moving along nicely until Williams bumped into Liam Smith in 2017 and got beat in both of their respective clashes. The first fight was stopped due to a cut but in the second contest he was outboxed which prompted a move up to 160lb and his first trainer change.

Moving up to middleweight seemed to be a blessing for Williams and under the eye of Dominic Ingle in Sheffield he registered five knockouts in five fights between 2018-2020. Following his resurgence, Williams landed a world title shot against Demetrius Andrade in 2021 but was convincingly outboxed, outfought and dropped on his way to a unanimous decision loss.

That defeat has led to yet another trainer change for the Welshman and at 29, he needs to start making progress if he is to deliver on the promise of his early career. Williams is in no way a fighter on the slide but this fight is of huge importance as another loss at this level would write off any future world title plans. However, he will have the backing of the entire city of Cardiff on Saturday night and will know a win will catapult his career to a whole new level.

Assessing the way this fight may play out is difficult as both fighters have struggled to stick with a particular trainer for any length of time. Eubank enters this with the legendary Roy Jones Jr in his corner for the third straight fight but in the first two he has looked stuck between his natural style of meticulous power punching and the fluid, movement-based style that his new trainer is trying to implement.

Williams will enter this with Adam Booth in his corner, who once trained Eubank Jr many years ago. Booth is without doubt one of the top trainers in the country but he simply hasn’t had enough time to iron out flaws in William’s game and will need to rely on his new charge sticking to a strict game plan.

This fight has so much at stake and although the winner will be on the edge of a world title shot, the loser will be in a very precarious position and it would be an impossible road back to the top of this ever-competitive middleweight division. With that in mind and the unpredictable nature of both fighters, this fight could come down to sheer determination and grit of which both fighters have bucket loads.

When this fight inevitably gets tough, neither of these men will look for an exit and both have demonstrated immense durability during their careers. Picking a winner is a risky play in a fight like this but the (5/6) for the fight to go the distance makes some appeal.

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RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK Eubank-Williams to go the distance 1pt at 5/6 (Latest Star Price ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

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PROFIT/LOSS (FEBRUARY 2022): LOSS -6.00 points
(Excluding ante-post recommendations CLICK HERE)

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