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Evening Standard

Sport

George Flood

Eubank Jr vs Williams: What time is fight, undercard, prediction, ring walks and latest betting odds today

Eubank Jr Liam Williams

Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Williams go toe to toe in Cardiff tonight in a grudge match neither man can afford to lose.

This fight was first due to take place in December, only to be moved once due to Williams’ recurring shoulder injury and then again after Covid-19 called a halt to British boxing shows in January.

However, the British middleweight duo will finally settle their differences this weekend as Eubank Jr travels to his rival’s hometown in a bid to take a key, high-profile step on his journey back to world title contention.

The 32-year-old - now trained by the legendary Roy Jones Jr - has put together a run of five straight wins since his second professional defeat by George Groves in early 2019 and was last seen forcing Wanik Awdijan to retire after five rounds in Newcastle in October.

Eubank Jr will be favourite to beat Williams but cannot underestimate the battle-hardened Welshman, who challenged for the WBO title on his last outing in April 2021 but was comfortably dispatched by the talented Demetrius Andrade in Florida.

‘The Machine’ is a tough and durable customer otherwise best known for his pair of meetings with Liam Smith back in 2017.

Saturday’s undercard is headlined by the UK debut of the great Claressa Shields, who defends her WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight titles against Ema Kozin as she builds up to a blockbuster undisputed showdown with nemesis and British WBO champion Savannah Marshall.

Former Tyson Fury opponent Otto Wallin is also in action along with Harlem Eubank, Chris Jr’s cousin, and the professional debut of Caroline Dubois.

Eubank Jr vs Williams fight card/undercard in full

Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Williams

Claressa Shields vs Ema Kozin

Samuel Antwi vs Conah Walker

Chris Jenkins vs Julius Indongo

Rhys Edwards vs Ruslan Berchuk

Otto Wallin vs Kamil Sokolowski

Harlem Eubank vs Viorel Simion

Steve Robinson vs Shane Gill

Caroline Dubois vs Vaida Masiokaite

Eubank Jr vs Williams date, start time, venue and ring walks

After being delayed twice, Eubank Jr vs Williams is scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 5, 2022.

The fight takes place at Cardiff International Arena in the Welsh capital.

As ever, the exact time of the main event will depend on the length of the undercard bouts, but ring walks are expected at approximately 10pm GMT.

How to watch Eubank Jr vs Williams

TV channel: Saturday night’s event is being broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Arena, with coverage beginning at 7:30pm.

Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also catch the action online via the Sky Go app.

Live coverage: Standard Sport will also bring you all the action on Saturday via our LIVE fight night blog.

Eubank Jr vs Williams fight prediction

It won’t be easy, but Eubank Jr needs to win and win well to potentially open up world title chances and silence his naysayers.

How about a rematch with arch-rival Billy Joe Saunders next?

Eubank Jr to win comfortably on points here.

What they’ve said

Eubank Jr: “I didn’t spend a year and a half on a farm with chickens and snakes and raccoons training for nothing. We’re on our way to cleaning up the middleweight division and Liam Williams is the next man in front of me.

“I’m going to take him out. All that matters is what’s going to happen on the night and that’s me standing over him and looking down and raising my fists as he gets counted out. It’s going to be a hell of a fight.”

Williams: “It’s an unbelievable opportunity to fight here in Cardiff in such a high level fight against Chris. I’m just so excited to put an end to this guy, drop him down a few levels. You’ll realise his his level after this fight. He’s mentally tough, he takes a good shot, but his his legs are very robotic. He moves like he’s got wooden legs.

“I just think my skill set is a lot better. We’re going to find out on a Saturday.I believe I believe I’ve got the power to stop him and knock him out. Whether I will or not, I don’t know because it’s going to be one of them top fights it’s going to be it’s gonna be very intense, but I do hope to knock him out.”