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Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith settle their differences inside the ring on a massive night of British boxing at the Manchester Arena. There is plenty of dislike between the middleweight rivals and no shortage of simmering animosity, with their final press conference descending into unpleasant, offensive chaos. Eubank Jr wore a rainbow armband to yesterday’s weigh-in in response to homophobic remarks.
Both fighters will hope to put those ugly rows behind them in this evening’s much-anticipated main event, with Eubank Jr looking to move past the Conor Benn saga and Smith aiming to keep his dreams alive of becoming a two-time and two-weight world champion. It’s a battle of style and speed against relentless pressure that should make for a cracking spectacle.
There is also quite the undercard to look forward to on Saturday, with Richard Riakporhe taking on Krzysztof Glowacki, Joseph Parker returning against Jack Massey and a battle between Ekow Essuman and Chris Kongo. Frazer Clarke moved to 5-0 after Frankie Stringer and Matty Harris kicked off the night with wins. Follow Eubank Jr vs Smith live below!
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Parker vs Massey
Massey is frustrating Parker at times, evasive and light enough on his feet to avoid becoming the victim of any sustained onslaughts.
Parker is staying busy but he’s not landing as often or as cleanly as he would like, though there’s another sharp right that finds the target on the inside.
This is all about patience for Parker.
The smaller Massey is not shirking the challenge but you struggle to see how he could really win this.
Parker vs Massey
Massey doesn’t look overawed and has had one or two moments in the first two rounds.
But Parker is dominant as you might expect, applying plenty of pressure and looking to unleash some heavy shots.
He traps Massey against the ropes late in the second and rattles in a couple of stinging blows up top.
Parker vs Massey
Parker lurches forward instantly and looks to wipe out the challenge of Massey straightaway.
But credit to the former cruiserweight champion, who withstands the early pressure and frustrates the Kiwi.
Parker the far busier fighter and he’s already landed some good shots, but Massey, as you might expect, is light on his feet and moving well, making him think twice with some decent jabs.
Parker vs Massey
Here we go!
This has got to be pretty emphatic from Parker if he has any designs on getting back into title contention.
A massive challenge for Massey, but one his team felt that he simply could not pass up.
It would be stunning if he could knock off a top 10-ranked former world champion in his first fight in boxing’s blue-riband division.
Parker vs Massey next
Joseph Parker returns next, the New Zealander’s first fight since losing that thriller against Joe Joyce at the same venue back in September.
He is an extremely tough assignment for the first bout up at heavyweight for former IBO cruiserweight champion Jack Massey.
Massey is 20-1 as a pro, with his lone defeat coming against Richard Riakporhe for the British belt back in 2019.
While Parker was last out four months ago, Massey has not fought at all since November 2021 due to various issues that saw him stripped of his title.
2022 was a real hard-luck story for ‘One Smack’, who has a massive challenge on his hands tonight.
But how much does Parker have left coming off that third career loss? The former WBO heavyweight champion being supported by Tyson Fury at ringside tonight.
Perhaps I’m being a touch harsh on Clarke, but I wasn’t impressed by that at all.
He seems pretty content with the performance, as does promoter Ben Shalom, who reiterates that it has always been the aim to get him in for the British title inside 10 fights.
Shalom says Clarke is “levels above” these sorts of bouts but needs the rounds.
Espindola quits before round six
Espindola is done here.
He slumps back to his corner at the end of the penultimate round and the referee promptly goes over, with his corner confirming that the fight is indeed finished.
The issues with his arm have prevented him from throwing his right hand for most of the night.
Easy work for Clarke, but you wouldn’t say it was particularly impressive.
He stays undefeated at 5-0. Espindola knocked out for the first time in his career.
Clarke vs Espindola
Espindola is not happy on his stool and it looks like his corner are having to convince him to come out for round four of six scheduled.
Not sure if it’s that apparent problem with his right forearm again.
Some are still trying to big this up as a good challenge for Clarke, but it really isn’t.
Espindola is doing preciously little, just looking uncomfortable and constantly sitting on the ropes.
Clarke should be demolishing the demoralised Argentine here but isn’t. No real combinations to speak of, despite it long having become pure target practice.
It’s all very cumbersome.
Clarke vs Espindola
Rather than Clarke backing him up, Espindola is always retreating to those ropes willingly, sitting there and hoping to fire off some counters and trying to take advantage of any mistakes from his more talented opponent.
Clarke is obviously dominating, but this certainly isn’t vintage stuff so far. Too many single shots and the approach is a bit lethargic.
Espindola is getting a few punches through here and there in retaliation, but nothing to remotely worry Big Fraz.
Clarke vs Espindola
A dominant opener from Clarke, who backs Espindola against the ropes and tees off, trying to time his shots to perfection.
A couple of stinging uppercuts get through, while he works the body nicely.
Not much at all coming from the 20-stone and shorter Espindola just yet, he also seems to have an issue with his right forearm that is being addressed in the corner before round two.
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