Injured Liam Smith ‘gutted and sorry’ after pulling out of Chris Eubank Jr fight

Liam Smith has had to pull out of his rematch against Chris Eubank Jr for a second time because of injury.

Smith stopped his British rival in the fourth round of their grudge middleweight contest in January and a return bout was initially slated to take place on June 17 at the Manchester Arena.

The fight was put back to July 1 to allow Smith to recover from an undisclosed injury, which promoters Boxxer described on Wednesday as “minor but nagging” and has “dogged his training camp”.

“I’m gutted and sorry to all the fans about the postponement,” Smith said. “I’ve always said a fully fit Liam Smith beats Chris Eubank Jr every time.

“I tried training through because I was desperate not to let anyone down but I’ve had to withdraw from the bout in July following the latest medical assessment this week.

“I’ll heal up now and then be fully fit for later in the summer.”

The existing card will still go ahead, with Savannah Marshall now topping the bill as she moves up a division to challenge undisputed world super-middleweight champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn.

Natasha Jonas is also scheduled to defend her WBC, IBF and WBO light-middleweight titles on the undercard.

Ben Shalom, Boxxer founder and CEO, said: “Nobody is more disappointed than Liam Smith, he’s the ultimate professional but he had no choice but to postpone the bout.

“We’re working on a new date for the fight and hope to announce that in a week or so. In the meantime we’ve got a huge night taking place in Manchester on July 1.”