Middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. faces Liam Williams on a pay-per-view card that also features Claressa Shields’ return to the boxing ring Saturday in Wales.
Chris Eubank Jr. (31-2, 23 KOs) vs. Liam Williams (23-3-1, 18 KOs)
- Date: Saturday, Feb. 5
- Time: 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales
- TV/Stream: FITE pay-per-view
- Cost: $29.99
- Division: Middleweights
- Rounds: 12
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Eubank 2½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Claressa Shields vs. Ema Kozin, middleweights (for Shields’ IBF, WBA and WBC titles); Samuel Antwi vs. Conah Walker, welterweights; Chris Jenkins vs. Julius Indongo, welterweights
- Prediction: Eubank UD
- Background: Eubank is on a roll. The 32-year-old son of Chris Eubank has won five consecutive fights since he lost a unanimous decision to George Groves in 2018, including victories over Marcus Morrison and Wanik Awdijan last year. The fight against Williams is probably his most significant since he upset James DeGale by a unanimous decision in 2019. Eubank is seeking a fight against the winner of a projected title-unification bout between Gennadiy Golovkin and Ryota Murata if he wins on Saturday. Williams was outclassed by titleholder Demetrius Andrade in his most-recent bout, last April in Florida. He lost a wide decision in his first major title fight. However, Williams also was on a hot streak before that setback, with seven consecutive victories since back-to-back losses to Liam Smith in 2017. Williams is a solid boxer with heavy hands. His last 15 victories have come by knockout. In the co-feature, Claressa Shields (11-0, 2 KOs) returns to boxing after an 11-month hiatus to focus on her MMA career. She’ll defend her middleweight titles against Ema Kozin (21-0-1, 11 KOs) of Slovenia. Shields is coming off a shutout victory over Marie Eve Dicaire in defense of her 154-pound belts in March of last year. She later vacated those titles.