At times sensational, at times frustrating. Chris Eubank Jr dropped Liam Williams three times in the first four rounds and four times in total, but still had to settle for a points win in Cardiff. 

After blitzing his way through the early stages, Eubank seemed to switch off and allow Williams back into the fight, before coasting his way to victory and then milking the boos from the Welsh fans, who were so infuriated by him that his post-fight interview was switched from ringside to backstage to prevent crowd trouble.  

Eubank has every reason to revel in this victory, having seen his career stall over the last three years since he recorded his biggest win over James DeGale. The shutdown caused by the pandemic left his career in limbo and it wasn’t until he was signed up by Sky Sports after their split with Eddie Hearn that his career was given some impetus.  

And after a build-up filled with spite, Eubank felt it was point proved. 

Eubank thrived on the spite between the pair and used it against Williams. The Welshman looked like he was fighting on passion, Eubank on precision.  

Nothing from Eubank looked rushed, every shot looked full of menace. From the moment Williams hit the canvas in the first round, there was only one winner. 

There had been needle between the pair throughout the build-up to a fight that was twice postponed. Williams faces a reprimand from the British Boxing Board of Control after saying “I want to kill him” in an interview. 

It was a particularly tasteless remark as Williams had been in the corner of his friend Nick Blackwell in 2016 when Blackwell suffered serious injuries against Eubank and spend more than a week in a coma. 

“I’m happy with the performance, I wanted to teach this man a lesson,” Eubank said. “He said some very menacing things to me leading up to this fight and I wanted to punish him. 

“I actually thought about it before I got in the ring and I was like ‘I don’t even want to knock this guy out in the first round, I want to punish him’. I want to get people like that out of boxing. 

“You saw the fight – head butts, head locks, all types of crazy stuff, I’m surprised he didn’t get disqualified. But I took it like a man and punished him like I said I was going to. It was a fun night. 

“People always tell me I can’t box, so I thought I would show some of these critics a different side to Eubank Jr, with a little bit of Roy Jones Jr sauce added to it, get the fans excited.  

“There was no danger [of letting the fight slip away]. If I had stepped on the gas any time in that fight, he would have been gone. He needed to be taught a lesson. I didn’t want to give him the easy way out. I wanted to let him know there are levels to the game and don’t go out there being a big mouth to guys you can get hurt against. He thought he was something he wasn’t.” 

Williams had begun quickly, but as he moved forward, Eubank measured him with a hard jab that dropped Williams on his backside. And when Eubank landed a chopping shot soon after, the Welshman looked hurt and was made to hold on at the end of the round. 

Williams began the second round in aggressive mood, but as Eubank unloaded, he landed with a big right hook that sent Williams to the floor again. He looked hurt as he struggled back to his feet, although he caught Eubank with a right as he walked forward. 

Eubank was quieter in the third as Williams came forward trying to drag him into a fight, but things lit up in the final seconds resulting in Eubank landing a late punch, leading to referee Mark Lyson wrestling him away and ending up crossing swords with Roy Jones Jr, Eubank’s trainer. 

After both received a warning, Williams came flying at Eubank at the start of the fourth, although Eubank weathered the storm and then dropped Williams for the third time with a perfectly-timed straight left jab. 

Hurt and cut, it was now Williams going backwards to buy time as Eubank invited him in and began to taunt him, although Eubank seemed to switch off between the fifth and seventh rounds, allowing Williams to get a foothold in the fight. 

By the time Eubank seemed to wake up, Eubank found he was being outworked, while Williams also got warnings for roughing Eubank up on the ropes, and there looked a real danger that Eubank could let it slip away. Eubank was busier in the tenth round and dropped Williams again in the eleventh with a clubbing right as he opened up. 

There was no be no incredible finish from Williams, as Eubank moved away and showboated his way through the final three minutes before climbing the ring post to soak in the boos of the Welsh fans at the final bell. 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.