After months of anticipation, Chris Eubank Jr v Liam Williams is almost upon us, and Johnny Nelson has revealed how both men can win and lose the fight.
“Starting with Chris Eubank Jr, Chris is fast, he’s sharp, he’s smart. He uses the ring, but he likes to do it at his pace.
“He has to be one of the fittest fighters I’ve seen and he works on attrition. He’s letting the shots go, he’ll let the combinations go when he gets an opponent to pin down and stay down with him.
“Now he’s joined forces with Roy Jones Jr he’s got a little finesse, he’s calmed it down a little bit, he’s boxing, trying to move and trying to be smart and trying to drill. But you can also see at times he’s stuck betwixt and between because he wants to box but he wants to bash and get involved.
“Roy’s trying to involve that boxing style to him so he uses his brain because you’re not going to be able to out-beat everybody, you won’t be able to bully everybody, but if you can box as well as bash, that’s your best benefit.
“So for Chris, what he needs to do is make sure listens to Roy Jones, down to a tee, because Liam isn’t the kind of guy you want to get stuck in the telephone booth with. Liam will fight fire with fire.
“For Chris to win the fight, he needs to be smart, use the jab, use movements, fight in quick bursts, let the shots go and step off. Even when he’s tempted to step in and close him down, he’s got to be smart and disciplined. If he doesn’t, he’ll make the fight harder than it should be.
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“For Liam, he’s a tough, tough cookie. I know this, I’ve been in the ring with this young man. We body sparred in Sheffield; I can take some shots to the body ,I’ve sparred with the biggest and the smallest – he can dig. He can break your ribs, I must admit I was in a bit of pain afterwards!
“Liam was walking me down. No matter what, he wants to have a tear-up. If you are stupid enough to stand in front of him and have a tear-up, that’s the worst thing you can do, because Liam loves that stuff.
“He’s the kind of guy that used to spar with his dad when he was a 10-year-old, so when kids were hitting him in the head he thought ‘is that it? Is that all you’ve got?!’.
“He’s very confident, he’s grown in confidence, and he’s the kind of fighter that will keep you under pressure, try and square you off, not follow you around the ring.
“He’s going to try get you angry so you stand there to fight him, and he’s coming up against a character that likes to have a tear-up, tempted to have a fight rather than box.
“If Eubank Jr fights, it’s the worst thing he can do. He has to fight intelligently, because if he doesn’t, he’s going to walk straight into the mousetrap that Liam sets, because he can give a shot and he can take a shot.
“For Liam to win he needs to talk Chris into standing close to him, get him angry, get under his skin, wind him up, do anything so he stops thinking about tactics.”
