Eubank Jr moves closer to world title shot with punishing win over Williams

Chris Eubank Jr said he taught Liam Williams a lesson after knocking him down four times en route to a unanimous middleweight win.

Trash talk between the two fighters had dominated the build-up to an enticing showdown in Cardiff, yet it was Eubank who thrived when it came time to back up those words in the ring.

He claimed victory 116-109, 116-108 and 117-109 on the cards, a combination of Williams' bravery and some Eubank showboating seeing the fight go the distance.

Eubank, a two-time former IBO super-middleweight champion, can likely look forward to a world title shot later in 2022. He is already the mandatory challenger for Ryota Murata's WBA (super) belt following his move back down to middleweight.

"I am happy with the performance, I wanted to teach that man a lesson, he said some quite menacing things to me in the lead-up to this fight," Eubank said.

"I wanted to punish him. I didn't want to knock him out in one round, I wanted to punish him.

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"Headbutts, headlocks, I am surprised he didn't get disqualified. But I took it like a man and I punished him like I said I would. It was a fun night.

"I think I showed some of my critics a different side to me. There was no danger, if I had stepped on the gas at any point in the fight he would have been gone.

"There are levels to this game. Don't be a big mouth against guys you can get hurt against."