Carl Froch was wowed by the fourth round knockout victory over Liam Smith with the way he upset the odds to defeat favorite Chris Eubank Jr on Saturday night in their heated rivalry at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
Carl says he wants Liam to face IBF/WBA middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin next to get a big payday before retiring. However, Eubank Jr is making noise about wanting an immediate rematch, so Smith will need to take care of that before he can try and set up a fight with Golovkin or Kell Brook.
Froch had his own interpretation of what transpired in the ring, saying that Liam (33-3-1, 20 KOs) had dominated three of the four rounds, which is a different picture compared to what actually happened.
In reality, Eubank Jr got the better of Smith in the first three rounds and then got careless in the fourth by choosing to back into the corner. If not for Eubank going into the corner to become a sitting duck, he might have continued to dominate and eventually knocked out Smith.
“Was it an unbelievable performance, or was it a whooping, an obliteration?” said Carl Froch to iFL TV about Liam Smith’s win over Chris Eubank Jr. “It was four rounds. He won the first two rounds, and then he probably lost the third round because Eubank got behind his jab, and then he started to warm up and step in range.
“He timed Eubank’s ducking low, leaning back and looking like he didn’t know what he was doing, and hit him with a couple of clean, crisp shots and finished him off. It was very surprising.
“You do have to question why Eubank wasn’t able to absorb the punches from Liam because he’s been able to absorb punches from bigger & stronger men like George Groves and myself in sparring. So it was surprising.
“You got to question whether he dehydrated himself and took a lot of weight off, but that takes away from Liam Smith’s fantastic performance, which I don’t want to do because it was a one-sided whooping, wasn’t it?
“That’s a massive loss. When you lose like that, you’ve got to take it on the chin. I don’t think he underestimated Liam. I think he knew he was in a fight.
“I don’t know. I’d be surprised if he does,” said Froch when asked if Eubank Jr would take the rematch with Smith. “He just crumbled and wilted under the pressure. He was getting hit him on the chin, and then he was gone.
“I don’t know what he does differently at 160. I’d like to see him [Liam] in a big money fight and see him retire because he’s at the end of his career. That was great for him. That was on Sky Box Office, which is brilliant.
“I think get a big payday for Liam Smith, get a big payday, and then retire. It was a great win. The Golovkin fight has got to be a big money fight, but I wouldn’t want to see him get hurt, and I think Golovkin would hurt him. That’s the last thing to go, the punch power,” said Froch.
