It's rare that British boxing fans get big fights in January, but Saturday night in Manchester bucks that trend when Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith engage in what should be a thrilling domestic matchup.
Ever since the fight was announced in November, tensions between the two have been building and it all boiled over at Thursday's press conference when the two exchanged verbal unpleasantries and received widespread criticism.
Now all that's left to do is for the pair to finally lace up the gloves and settle their differences inside the ring, and as always, Smith will be backed by his fighting family including his brother and former world super middleweight champion Callum Smith who believes Liam has the clear edge over Eubank Jr.
"Liam is too smart and too clever for Eubank at the highest level, both had great careers but Liam is that one step further and boxed at slightly higher level than Eubank," the 32-year-old told Boxxer.
"Eubank has wins over Jame DeGale but he was on the slide when he fought him, he also stepped up against George Groves and Billy-Joe Saunders and came up short.
“I think stylically it’ll be a good fight but Eubank will come up short. They’ll gel pretty well, but the deciding factor will be Liam’s brain and experience at the highest level.”