The anticipated match-up between domestic rivals Chris Eubank Jr (31-2, 23 KO) and Liam Williams (23-3-1, 18 KO) now has an official date and location, December 11th in Cardiff, Wales. The fight is presented by Boxxer and will be aired on Sky Sports. Both boxers have been talking up a potential meeting for a little while now, and there seems to be some genuine bad blood between the two.
Said Williams:
“I’m very excited to get the fight made. It’s been coming for a long time. I can’t wait to shut his mouth once and for all. There’s nothing like a big domestic showdown to get the juices flowing… I’ve not been that impressed with Chris’ recent performances. People have been talking about how he’s brought Roy Jones Jr in to improve him, but if I’m being totally honest, I don’t think he’s improved one bit.”
Williams is coming off a spirited but losing effort against WBO middleweight title-holder Demetrius Andrade in April 2021, and is looking to get right back into the world title picture with a win over Eubank.
“A win in this fight and possibly even a stoppage over Eubank and my name is going to be well and truly out there and in the mix for world titles.”
For his part, Eubank suggests that Williams has bitten off more than he can chew, and will pay for his words on December 11th.
“Liam Williams has been saying a lot to try to catch my attention and bait me into fighting him. It’s now got to the point where everyone is asking me to shut him up, and on December 11, I’m going to give the people what they want. As I’ve said, I’m only involved in big fights from now on and this is the fight people want to see. They want to see if Williams can back up what he’s been saying – which he won’t.”
Eubank has been in with world class opposition several times thus far in his career, with wins over Arthur Abraham and James DeGale, and his two career losses coming against Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves. He also holds a recent win over Matvey Korobov, but that fight ended with a fluke injury to Korobov’s shoulder before it really had a chance to get going.
Williams’ three losses have also come against quality opponents, most recently to Andrade but also in back-to-back losses against Liam Smith in 2017. Since those two defeats to Smith, he seems to have really developed his punching power, going on a tear of KOs before his UD loss to Andrade in April of this year.
Any way you slice it, this looks to be a well-matched fight, and both boxers have legitimate reason to like their chances in it.