Liam Smith has claimed that a gruelling weight cut for his rematch with Chris Eubank Jr. was the main reason behind his poor peformance in Manchester on Saturday night.
The pair renewed their rivalry in a rematch of their January contest which saw Smith stop Eubank Jr. in the fourth round.
However, the second meeting could not have been more different. Eubank Jr. dominated the contest and dropped Smith in rounds four and 10 before the fight was stopped.
Speaking after the loss, Smith gave an honest assessment on what transpired at the AO Arena.
"You don't have to be a genius to see how flat [I was] from 40 seconds of the fight," Smith said.
"I think everyone knows and Chris knows how I was with the weight, to say at the weigh-in.
"After the injury, I came down three stone and so [that is] a lot of weight to shift in a short space of time.
"But that's all I can put my finger on, I was flat, flat as they come from the get go I couldn't move my feet and Chris was sharp early on so fair play to him."