Carl Froch has claimed Liam Smith’s drastic weight cut meant he was ‘physically incapable’ of putting on a performance against Chris Eubank Jr in their highly anticipated rematch.
Smith suffered a tenth-round defeat to Eubank Jr on Saturday night, after he was dropped twice and suffered a cut above his eye before the contest was waved off.
The result saw Eubank Jr earn revenge after Smith had beaten him with a devastating fourth-round knockout in January.
Smith, a former WBC light-middleweight champion, suggested after the fight that his weight cut had played a factor in his performance.
The 35-year-old said he had come down three stone since their rematch in June had been postponed after he suffered a back injury.
Liam Smith suffered defeat to Chris Eubank Jr after being stopped in the tenth round
Carl Froch has claimed Smith’s drastic weight cut had made him incapable of performing
Smith admitted post fight that he had shed three stone ahead of his showdown with Eubank Jr
Froch, a three-time world champion, claimed Smith was surviving from the outset of the fight due to being ‘badly weight drained’.
The Cobra claimed to his former rival George Groves on talkSPORT’s ‘The Verdict’ that Smith’s weight cut had meant he was ‘physically incapable’ of performing against Eubank Jr.
Froch suggested Smith had almost been ‘conning the fans’ due to his condition heading into the fight.
‘I don’t want to take anything away from Chris Eubanks performance and I don’t want to write off Liam Smith too much, but Liam Smith was that bad,’ Froch said.
‘It transpired in the post-fight press conference that he took three stone off.
‘Taking three stone off, 42 pounds in weight, being that drained going into the ring.
‘Not only is it dangerous but it is also kind of conning the fans, cheating the fans and the public when you are there to put a performance on and actually you have got no chance of putting a performance on because you are physically incapable.
‘That’s what it looked like from round one for me, he was on survival mode after the knockdown but before that he did nothing.
Eubank Jr’s victory in the rematch has led to suggestions of a trilogy between the boxers
‘It just wasn’t good enough from Liam Smith, I was disappointed in his performance, I expected a lot more than him.’
Eubank Jr’s victory in Manchester has raised the prospect of a trilogy between the two middleweights.
A lucrative fight against Conor Benn has also been mooted for Eubank Jr.