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Can Williams back up trash talk after Eubank Jr fight announced?

Chris Eubank Jr

There are not too many genuine grudge matches around in boxing, but Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Williams is exactly that.

December 11 will see a bout full of needle between two British middleweight rivals Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Williams.

Live on Sky Sports the pair will battle it out in Cardiff for bragging rights.

Eubank Jr has been priced up as the early favourite, but many purists see the clash as a 50/50 fight.

The classy Brighton boxer will hope to take a step closer to a world title fight, whilst shutting up a rival who has got under the skin of the 32-year-old.

"This is a personal fight for me," Eubank Jr told Sky Sports. "Most of the time, boxing is just business. You get in there, you fight another man and you just want to win.

"With this guy here, I genuinely don't like the man, he's said a lot of disrespectful things about me over the last few months, and it's time to make him eat those words.
"I definitely can't repeat the things he's said on social media, but trust me it's very hard to stay calm with the things he's been saying. Now I have a good opportunity to go into that ring and make him pay."

Williams has been calling out his higher profile opponent for years. And Eubank Jr has finally agreed to a match up in what will be a hostile, raucous Motorpoint Arena where home support for Williams will be unwavering.

"It doesn't affect me. If anything, it makes me fight harder, if the crowd is against me," added Eubank Jr (31-2-0).

"Not to say that I'm hoping they are. I hope that I receive a warm welcome. But either way, I'm going to go in there and get the job done."

The dislike between the pair is mutual.

'He needs bringing down a peg or two'

"He's an arrogant character," said Williams, 29, about his older rival.

"I fully believe I'm going to beat him and I think I'm going to knock him out as well," Williams told Sky Sports.
"It's just one of those fights, very intriguing, and I can't walk down the street without people saying to me, 'When are you going to fight Eubank?'
"For me, it would be good to fight him and put it behind me. I'm fed up of talking about him. I just want to punch his face in. He's an arrogant character.
"I don't like the way he makes out he's here and everyone else is there. He's been saying these mad things for so long and I just think he needs bringing down a peg or two."

Williams does have the utmost respect for Eubank Jr, who only has two defeats on his record, he just does not like him.

"He is a good fighter. I do respect him as a fighter. I just don't like his personality," he said.
"It's going to be super-exciting for me, for everyone else in Wales. I'll probably sell that place out on my own, even if it wasn't Eubank. It's going to be a crazy night. I'm going to get a mad entrance and people are going to be rooting for me big time.
"He's rough and tough, he's very fit. He's always in fantastic shape. I think he's going to come and try and make it a dogfight.
"I'm happy with that, let's go."

Can Williams win?

The tough Welshman Williams (23-3-1) has three defeats on his professional record. Liam Smith beat him twice in 2017 via a retirement and a majority decision.
His only other loss came last time out against American WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade.
Williams proved he can be a tough nut to crack and went the distance at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
But he was never going to get the verdict and was outclassed in parts with the judges seeing it 118-109, 118-109 and 116-111 all in favour of Andrade.
That defeat though will stand Williams in good stead. Andrade has his eyes on Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez or Gennadiy Golovkin, while Eubank's latest opponent was an unknown German with very little pedigree.
Williams battled hard against Andrade, but after an overhand left wobbled him round one, it looked to be an uphill battle.
He was put on the canvas in round two when a one-two straight down the pipe sent him spinning.
A flurry of powerful uppercuts took their toll in rounds five and six, but Williams hung in there. And in the ninth round he landed a damaging right hand which buzzed the champion.
Andrade recovered though and landed a bomb of his own in the final round. The left hook almost finished it for Williams, but he managed to survive. He came forward in the 12th but could not put any combinations together and the pair, exhausted, fell to the ground.
Andrade's classy work and a more accurate jab had kept Williams at arm's length.

Williams will again concede a reach advantage vs Eubank Jr. But he does possess power and has 18 knockouts from his 23 winning fights.

There was also nothing wrong with the Welshman's chin, especially in the middle rounds against Andrade when a series of powerful uppercuts landed under his chin.
So Williams will take some knocking out.

Eubank Jr undercooked?

Eubank Jr has altered styles under new coach Roy Jones Jr. The come-forward, unpredictable approach has been tempered to a more refined style.

That style may well pay off against a pressure fighter like Williams.

However, Eubank Jr will have to be careful he does not arrive undercooked. His camp will see him in tip-top condition but in the ring his last few fights have been far from competitive.

Wanik Awdijan retired on his stool last time out in October after a number of crunching body shots took their toll. Before that he outpointed Marcus Morrison after 17 months of inactivity.

It was not as close a contest as the record books show though because Eubank Jr afterwards claimed he "decided to keep him in there" to get in 10 rounds.

Williams will prove to be a tougher opponent and Eubank Jr might find his chin too good to force a stoppage.

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