In one of the most anticipated all-British fights in recent years, middleweights Chris Eubank Jr from Brighton and Liam Smith of Liverpool meet over 12 rounds at the 21 000-capacity AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday night.
The experienced pair have engaged in several wars in front of the cameras like the days of Eubank’s father during the 1990s with Nigel Benn.
One betting site has Eubank Jr as minus 225 favourite, with Smith at plus 188.
The 33-year-old Eubank Jr (32-2; 23) has only two losses on his record against two top-ranked fighters like Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves, both on points. He has won his last six fights, which included the defeat of highly rated James Degale for the vacant IBO super middleweight title.
Smith (32-3-1; 19), who is 34 years old, has won his last three fights and the losses on his record came against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (ko 9), James Manguia (pts 12), and Magomed Kurbanov (pts) in Russia, which was controversial.
Since then he has won three fights inside the distance against Anthony Fowler, Jessie Vargas, and Hassan Mwakinyo.
Eubank Jr has not beaten a fighter of Smith’s calibre and some of the betting sites are favouring Smith.
On the undercard, Ekow Essuma (18-0; 7) defends his British, Commonwealth, IBF European, and WBC International Silver welterweight titles against Chris Kongo (14-1; 7).