THE June 17 rematch at Manchester Arena between Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jr has been postponed.
Boxing News understands that July 1 is now in play for the rearranged date.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reported the news today (Monday) that Smith had suffered an injury while training and that the fight is “expected to only be delayed a couple of weeks”.
BN reached out to the Liverpudlian who confirmed that the fight will be put back. The 34-year-old was unable to give any details as to what the specific problem was but did say he is “slightly injured”. Promoter Ben Shalom was unavailable for comment as was Eubank’s promoter Kalle Sauerland.
Their first bout took place on January 21, also at Manchester Arena, when Smith surprised many by stopping Eubank in four rounds to settle their rivalry, albeit short-term. The rematch clause was triggered back in February.
“This morning I activated the rematch clause via my lawyers and sent to my promoters,” Eubank said on February 14.
Speculation continued to link the 33-year-old to a fight against Conor Benn after their original date last October fell through due to Benn having failed a drugs test.
Last month it was confirmed that Smith-Eubank 2 would go ahead and be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office once again. Chief support to the main event was to be Franchon Crews-Dezurn defending her undisputed female super-middleweight championship against Savannah Marshall.