Liam Smith faces Aaron McKenna on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn on Saturday night
Liam Smith admits he has no interest in the showdown between Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr as he vowed to return with a bang this weekend. Benn and Eubank Jr will meet three decades on from the rematch between their famous fathers this Saturday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The bitter rivals had originally been due to fight in October 2022, only for the bout to be cancelled when Benn failed two voluntary drug tests. But amid all the talk around the main event, Smith’s focus is instead on ensuring he beats Aaron McKenna in an emphatic manner on the undercard.
“Massive, I’m privileged to be back on a stage like this,” he said. “I thought I might have missed that opportunity with Riyadh Season.
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“Unfortunately, I wasn’t injured last time, I fell ill – which is even more frustrating for me coming off the back of a horrendous injury that was so evident to see when I thought Chris (Eubank Jr) in the rematch.
“I feel I’m in a good place now. I’m privileged to be on a card this big and this spoke about. Selfishly, I don’t give a s**t about the main event.
“I need to just win and announce that I’m back, and then I’ll speak to you about the main event and call the winner out or whatever it may be.
“This time around it was anyone with a name I would have got my teeth into. I’ve got a point to prove. I was horrendous last time out in the ring.
“You can’t announce you’re back until you perform under the lights. That’s all this Saturday is about for me.
“I need to win by any means necessary, but I need to put on a performance too for the people who have written me off after Eubank 2. I want to beat Aaron and beat Aaron well. And then I’ll call whoever I need to call out.”
Smith is also relishing the chance to prove his critics wrong when he faces McKenna this weekend. The Joe McNally-trained fighter hasn’t fought since he was stopped by Eubank Jr at the AO Arena in Manchester in September 2023.
Much of the talk in the build-up is expected to be around whether Smith still has what it takes to compete at the top level. But they are conversations that the 36-year-old has been forced to listen to before, no more so than when he fought Anthony Fowler back in October 2021.
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Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn will face off on Saturday, April 26, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Fans can order the fight on DAZN PPV for £19.95, which also comes with a DAZN seven-day free trial.
“Yeah, not a similar type of fight, but a similar outcome,” he told Ring Magazine when asked about the similarities between the Fowler fight and this one coming up.
“I feel like I’ve been asked the same questions now for five, six years, maybe. There was the Fowler fight, I was even getting asked before the Liam Williams fights because I’d been world champion before that.
“I feel like even during fight week it’ll be all the same questions. Do I think I’ve reached the top and have I still got it blah, blah.
“The same questions were getting asked to Callum. If that didn’t answer the question of desire, I don’t know what will, and I feel like I’ve got the exact same thing.”
Before he continued: “I could have retired as a very happy man after winning the British title. I didn’t want to box. I’d love to tell you that story that I’ve dreamt of these moments my whole life.
“I haven’t. I wanted to be a footballer. I just ended up OK at boxing, probably because it was in my blood and in my family. I’ve had a great career, one that I can pinch myself over.
“I’m doing this because I love fighting now and I feel like I’m from too good a family who would tell me if I was done.
“If I’d had a good camp and then fought the way I fought against Chris Eubank Jr, I’d have retired on the spot. I know the issues and I know the reasons behind it.
“This is just going to be the same again as all the build-up to Anthony Fowler. Is he ready to kick on? Is McKenna ready for the big names now? Am I finished? I think I know which outcome it’ll be.”