Liam Smith fears his brothers having to tell him to quit, as he prepares to fight Chris Eubank Jr

The predominantly Mersey crowd at Manchester Arena won’t give a damn that their hero Liam Smith subjected Chris Eubank Jr to false homophobic advances ahead of Saturday’s decisive fight for both of them.

Nor that his opponent was finally goaded by c-word insults to respond by accusing the third eldest son of Liverpool’s beloved Smith brothers of marital infidelity.

They’ll be after Smith for a man and a woman, regardless of how that totally unnecessary outburst may reflect on the proud scouse fraternity.

Chris Smith’s fans will back him at the Manchester Arena despite his bad comments

So let’s put aside the foul-mouthed tirade he was urged upon by PR men and TV announcers to boost Sky’s pay-per-view sales, and tune in to the real Liam.

The warrior whose biggest fear is that a bad loss here and now will send him to a coffee table where his brothers will advise him to seriously consider whether to continue boxing.

“That’s what I fear most,” he says of the possibility that the other three struggling Smith brothers will call a summit on Sunday.

“We did it with Paul,” recalls Liam, 34, of the collective family decision to have the oldest of these united fighters retire.

Chris Eubank Jr (L) wore a rainbow bracelet in support of the LGBT+ community in preparation

He lost to an opponent who would never have beaten him even a few months earlier, so we sat him down and asked him to really think about what would be best for his future. ‘

‘We all support each other a lot. That has been a major factor in our success. That is a bond of strength that Eubank does not have.

If things get tough, we can turn to each other. It’s a very different lifestyle from Chris.

I have driven myself from Liverpool. I’m sure Chris was taken to Manchester in a big fancy car. We live a clean life. I never smoked. He rarely takes a drink. He works hard.’

Smith is moving up the division to middleweight as he prepares to face Eubank Jr in Manchester.

To be fair, Eubank Jr embodies those virtues as well. As he demonstrated when he slaved down to the lowest weight of his pro career to take on Conor Benn, albeit to no avail when Nigel’s son was exposed for failing two drug tests.

There hasn’t been such a drastic weight cut here.

Although Smith is moving up a division to middleweight, he was heavier than Eubank on a visit to the scale before the weigh-in.

Even so, Junior will still be the biggest man to step into the ring on Saturday.

Eubank Jr is a marginal favorite in Saturday’s fight, which could lead to world title challenges.

As such, he starts as the fringe favorite in a fight that will likely launch the winner towards world title challenges and spell the virtual end for the loser.

Says Eubank: ‘Popular opinion seems to be that I have the most to lose because Liam already has a couple of major world titles on his record and I don’t.

“But even though that puts a little bit of stress on me, I think he’s under the most pressure. He has the people of Liverpool trusting him to help them through these difficult economic times.

The most exciting thing at stake for Eubank is a potential mega-million title fight with Mexican heartthrob Canelo Alvarez.

Even if he loses, he can trigger a rematch clause for a second fight with Smith. With another wheel of money in the bank as long as Benn is free to fight again.

The pair may even be up for a rematch if it comes to a close match on the Sky Sports pay-per-view.

Smith’s agenda is less secure if he is defeated. Although he insists: “I am as hungry to win a world title in a second weight division as I was for my first championship fight.”

Says Eubank: ‘My time is coming. by knockout

You are probably right. But as a safeguard in case Smith takes him the distance, it would be wise to build a winning edge in the first eight rounds as a cushion against the tendency to fade a bit late in a fight.

Eubank Jr v Smith will be televised live this Saturday night on Sky Sports Box Office, at £19.95