Smith Views Eggington As Opponent And Not A Friend
Walking into his hometown of Liverpool on March 30th, Liam Smith refuses to view Sam Eggington as anything more than an opponent.
The two face off in the main event of a card from the M&S Bank Arena on Saturday night, and while the two super-welterweights consider themselves friends, that will be left outside of the squared circle as both look for a world title opportunity.
“The fight with Sam, I’m massively excited for, and I feel it’s a good fight to kick-start my 2019,” said Smith at the official press conference. “I’m just looking to put on a performance for people to think ‘he was a level above’.
“On a fight night when I have got a bit of spite, then I feel it’s a different story than sparring…I know Sam as a person, we get on, so I’m not going to sit here and bad mouth him.
“But with 10 ounce gloves on in a fight, and in fight condition, I feel I’m too good for Sam Eggington and I’m looking forward to putting a show on.”
“I’m excited. It don’t take a genius to know that I’m the underdog in this fight,” said Eggington said prior to fight night.
Eggington looks to reestablish himself after a shocking loss to Hassan Mwakinyo in September, and feels like he has nothing to lose against Smith.
“I quite like it like that,” Smith said of the situation walking into the ring. “Nothing to lose, everything to win, so I’m looking forward to Saturday night.
“With having no pressure, you just can genuinely enjoy your training and everything a bit more.
“When I’m doing the training and the dieting, and etc it’s just that much easier when you haven’t really got a belt on your back, or you’re trying to defend something.
The card for Smith-Eggington will air on DAZN beginning at 3pm on March 30th from Liverpool, England’s M&S Bank Arena.
Full fight card below:
Liam Smith vs Sam Eggington, junior middleweights, 12 rounds
Anthony Fowler vs Scott Fitzgerald, junior middleweights, 12 rounds
Joe Hughes vs Robbie Davies Jr, junior welterweights, 12 rounds
David Price vs Kash Ali, heavyweights, 10 rounds
Philip Bowes vs Tom Farrell, junior welterweights, 12 rounds
Craig Glover vs Vaclav Pejsar, cruiserweights, 8 rounds
Paul Butler vs Fadhili Majiha, super bantamweights, 6 rounds
Tom Hart vs Przemyslaw Binienda, light heavyweights, 4 rounds
Natasha Jonas vs Feriche Mashauri, lightweights, 6 rounds
Ged Carroll vs Des Newton, junior welterweights, 6 rounds
Initial Quotes: Sky Sports