Chris Eubank Jr. had no trouble with Liam Williams. Next up could be a shot at a world title.
Eubank put the normally rugged Williams down four times — thrice in the first four rounds — and won a wide decision in a 12-round middleweight bout in the loser’s home country of Wales.
The son of the former champion of the same name could next fight the winner of a tentative title-unification bout between Gennadiy Golovkin and Ryota Murata, which would be his second opportunity to fight for a major belt.
The 32-year-old Englishman lost a decision to then-champion George Groves in 2018.
“I wanted to teach this man a lesson,” said Eubank, who had exchanged harsh words with Williams beforehand. “He said some very menacing things to me leading up to this fight and I wanted to punish him. … It was a fun night.”
Eubank (32-2, 23 KOs) put Williams (23-4-1, 18 KOs) down with a short left jab in Round 1, did it again with a right-left combination in Round 2 and did it one more time with another jab in Round 4.
At that point, it seemed a matter of time until Eubank finished off an overmatched opponent. However, Williams had other ideas.
The principals fought on roughly even terms in eight of the rounds. Eubank boxed and moved well but Williams was generally the one moving forward and he landed a number of clean, eye-catching punches.
The Welshman seemed to have climbed back into the fight until disaster struck one more time in Round 11, when what appeared on replays to be a push was ruled a fourth knockdown by the referee.
If Williams had any chance of winning the fight on the cards, it was no longer possible after that.
The final scores were lopsided: 116-109, 116-108 and 117-109, all in Eubank’s favor. Boxing Junkie scored it 116-108 for the winner, eight rounds to four.
Eubank said afterward that he could’ve knocked out Williams if he had wanted to. He implied that he carried his opponent so he could inflict maximum punishment.
Williams’ supporters would say that it was their man’s ability and toughness that allowed him to survive.
“If I’d stepped on the gas at any point, he would’ve been gone,” he said. “But, you know, he needed to be taught a lesson. I didn’t want to give him the easy way out. I wanted him to know that there are levels to the game.
“And don’t go out there being a big mouth to guys you can get hurt against. He thought he was something he wasn’t.”
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