Chris Eubank Jr responds to Liam Smith’s bizarre ‘you’re gay’ rant with rainbow armband

Chris Eubank Jr has responded to the bizarre ‘are you gay’ taunt from his upcoming opponent, Liam Smith, by wearing a bracelet in support of the LGBT+ community.

The fighters clashed in the build-up to Saturday’s fight, with Smith suggesting that Eubank Jr was ‘gay’, before Eubank Jr in turn made accusations that his rival was cheating on his girlfriend.

Now, Eubank Jr has taken his response further by wearing the same rainbow armband that soccer captains were banned from wearing during the World Cup in Qatar in late 2022 while facing each other before their fight.

In a social media post in support of the Pride movement, Eubank attached a photo of himself face-to-face with Smith while wearing the armband, captioning it: “We don’t discriminate…we don’t alienate.” We want boxing, and the sport as a whole, to be all-inclusive.’

Eubank Jr and Smith are facing an investigation by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBofC) for their embarrassing ‘personal’ and ‘homophobic’ comments in the pre-fight press conference.

Eubank Jr, the 33-year-old son of world champion Chris Eubank Sr, is set to fight Liverpudlian in Manchester on Saturday night.

There were plenty of apologies before the weigh-in for the nasty insults 24 hours earlier, but not an ounce between Eubank and Smith when they stepped onto the scale.

Both came in exactly two pounds under the middleweight limit at 11 5 pounds.

In previous interviews, each has apologized for the sexual slights for which Sky Television has expressed public regret and the British Boxing Board of Control has vowed to investigate.

In response to Smith’s false insinuations that he might be gay, Eubank took the stage wearing the Pride armband that Harry Kane was banned from wearing in Qatar.

And though silence was golden for most of the long stare, by the end Smith couldn’t resist calling Eubank a clown.

Junior responded by saying, “He’s made it personal, so now it’s not just normal business at the Manchester Arena this Saturday night.” I will be pleased to punish him’

On Friday morning, the BBofC released a statement signed by General Secretary Robert W. Smith, announcing that they were aware of the comments made and would investigate them.

“The British Boxing Board of Control is aware of the comments made by Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jr. at yesterday’s press conference, and the Board Stewards will directly consider the conduct of both boxers,” he said.

When the boxers met again for the weigh-in on Friday afternoon, Eubank Jr emerged wearing a Manchester United shirt with a rainbow captain’s armband in a move likely to make any Liverpool Smith fan mad.

The insults stemmed from the pair’s appearance on ‘Gloves Are Off’, a Sky Sports pre-fight promo staple that involves two fighters sitting across from each other for a chat with former world champion Johnny Nelson.

In fact, their episode last month had to be cut short, and carefully edited, after Eubank and Smith shot each other’s families.

But the British boxers clashed again on Thursday, with Eubank Jr pummeling Smith and saying: ‘If you want to get dark and personal, talk about being gay and do I like girls? Various sources have told me that you sometimes cheat on your wife.

After the fight, Sky Sports presenter Anna Woolhouse was forced to apologize for the “offensive” and “homophobic” language used throughout, while co-host Andy Clarke described what was heard as “personal” and “homophobic”.

Sky Sports also removed the broadcast event from its Sky Sports Boxing YouTube channel.

Eubank Jr then took to social media, saying: “Well, that escalated quickly.”

The dispute sparked after comments made by Eubank Jr earlier this week in which he revealed that the 34-year-old Smith has been direct messaging him on Instagram ahead of the fight.

Eubank Jr referenced those messages in Thursday’s press conference, saying: ‘You slipped into my DMs. I’m used to seeing girls in my DMs, I’m not used to seeing boys’.

Smith, a former super welterweight world champion, then responded: ‘Chris, you talk about girls, mate, has anyone in this room ever seen you with a girl?

‘Got something to say to us? Because you are 33 years old. Do you want to tell us something? Because no one in this room has ever seen you with a woman.

Eubank Jr sought to revert the conversation to the task at hand, insisting that personal matters should not be questioned publicly.

“Listen, my private life is my private life,” Eubank Jr. responded. “That’s irrelevant to boxing, but I’m happy, I’m comfortable.”

Eubank Jr, following another tip from Smith, who again asked: ‘Do you have anything you want to tell us?’ he continued: ‘It’s a very personal question to ask myself directly. You can swipe my DMs or you can do it right now.

Smith then responded: ‘I’m not that type, man, I like women.’

Later in the press conference, Eubank Jr returned to the previous argument, this time accusing his impending opponent of cheating on his wife “on occasion”.

He said: ‘If you want to get dark and personal with it, talking about being gay and do I like girls? Various sources have told me that you sometimes cheat on your wife.

‘So the glass houses mate. Let’s relax on the personal stuff. I’d rather be gay than a cheater.

This was met with a response of: ‘You don’t have a lady to fool’.

Eubank Jr steps into the ring for the first time since his February 2022 victory over Liam Williams, with his October fight against Conor Benn called off after the latter failed two drug tests in preparation for the fight.

Smith, meanwhile, last beat Hassan Mwakinyo in September of last year.