All the talk and mind games will finally come to an end in Manchester on Saturday night when Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith settle their differences in the ring live on DAZN (U.S., Canada, DACH and Japan only).
The contest at the AO Arena will be Eubank Jr's first fight since his eagerly-anctipated clash with Conor Benn got cancelled, and his trainer Roy Jones Jr believes Smith is a bigger threat compared to Benn.
"For most fighters it would be very difficult adjusting from one fight to another, but he seems to be handling it pretty well. This was the thing I was concerned about most," Jones Jr told Vegas Insider.
“He was getting ready for a guy like Conor Benn in a big family feud type fight. He then had to adjust to Liam Smith where there's no feud but more of a threat.
“It's almost like a trap. You're now fighting Liam Smith, there's not much hype around Liam but this guy is much better than the other guy who had a lot of hype about him.
But while Jones Jr claims that Smith is a bigger threat for his fighter, he believes that Eubank Jr will be able to cope with whatever the Liverpool man has in store for him this coming weekend.
“That said, I do agree with Chris that in some ways Conor is a tougher fight than Liam. He's sparred Liam before whereas he has not sparred Benn.
“Smith and Benn have their own weaponry and he I think fares better with the weaponry of Liam Smith than he does the weaponry of Benn."