Carl Froch claims Liam Smith ‘cheated’ fans with a 42lb weight cut ahead of loss to Chris Eubank Jr.
Smith defeated Eubank when the pair fought for the first time in January and was hoping to do more of the same on Saturday night in Manchester, but was unable to repeat that success.
Eubank was in charge from the first bell and dominated the rematch, dropping Smith in the fourth round and again in the tenth round before the referee stepped in and waved it off.
Smith admitted after the fight that he was flat the entire time and put this down to having to lose three stone to make the 160lb limit. The 35-year-old suggested he felt compelled to return sooner than desired after a back injury to prevent the rematch from falling through.
Reflecting on the fight and Smith’s comprehensive defeat, Froch criticized the Liverpudlian for going into the fight so exhausted, believing it made him “physically incapable” of challenging Eubank.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Chris Eubank’s performance and I don’t want to write off Liam Smith too much, but Liam Smith was so bad,” Froch said.
“In the post-fight press conference it emerged he had lost three stone. I lost three stone, 42lbs in weight and was so exhausted going into the ring.
“It’s not only dangerous, but it’s also cheating the fans, cheating the fans and the audience when you’re there to give a performance and you don’t actually have a chance to give a performance because you’re not physically able to do it Location is.”
“That’s how it looked to me from the first round, he was in survival mode after the knockdown, but before that he didn’t do anything.”
https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/boxing/carl-froch-liam-smith-chris-eubank-jr-boxing-news-b1104815.html Carl Froch claims Liam Smith ‘cheated’ fans with a 42lb weight cut ahead of loss to Chris Eubank Jr.
