Chris Eubank Jr triggers Liam Smith rematch clause to set up second fight later this year | Boxing News

Chris Eubank Jr has activated a rematch clause and will fight Liam Smith again later this year.

Smith stopped Eubank Jr with a vicious fourth-round knockout when the British rivals faced off in a defining night for their respective careers at Manchester Arena last month.

Eubank Jr’s promotional team initially suggested they were considering lodging an appeal to the British Boxing Board of Control, after alleging that Smith made contact with an elbow during the decisive flurry of shots that resulted in the first knockdown.

But Eubank Jr did have a rematch clause in his contract for the Liam Smith fight so always had the option of forcing a repeat showdown with his rival.

“This morning I activated the rematch clause via my lawyers and sent to my promoters,” Eubank said on Tuesday.

Kalle Sauerland, Wasserman’s head of global boxing, revealed after the initial fight that they had “a few weeks” to make a decision over the possible rematch, with Eubank now confirming the clause has been activated.

“Chris was up a round on my card,” Sauerland previously told Sky Sports.

“He just came off a very good third round. The first round he probably just edged. The second round was Liam, the third round was Chris’, a very clear round and then he caught one. It happens. That’s boxing.

“Can he do it again? I’d like to see that. A lot of people would like to see that.”

Liam Smith considers talk of an elbow landing as “embarrassing” and dismissed the idea that Eubank Jr was weight-drained in the first fight.

“They are clutching at straws. As much as it might be a shock for people to see Chris sitting on his backside like that, just take it on the chin,” Smith previously told Sky Sports.

“People are forgetting I fought him at 160lbs. He came in at 159lbs. If he’s struggling that bad, come in at 160lbs. A pound is a lot when you’re tight at the weight. A pound is an awful lot. You’re not stupid. Why give away an extra pound? I fought him at his weight. I didn’t drag him to no catchweight. I fought Chris at Chris’ natural best weight, 160lbs.

“Keep hitting me with the comments, but let me tell you this – I’ll do the exact same in the rematch.”

Anfield, the home of Liverpool football club, is an option to host their second fight.

“If we can make sure the event takes place near enough to the last game of the season which I think is on the weekend of [May] 21, then there is a possibility,” Ben Shalom, Smith’s promoter, previously told Sky Sports.

“If we were able to get Anfield it would be the end of May.”