There comes the time in every career when it is time to drop the “junior” tag. Floyd Mayweather did it, long after he had outshone his father’s achievements on the ring, and it is now or never for Chris Eubank Jr to step out of his father’s considerable shadow. 

At 32, it really is now or never for Eubank. By that age, his father, Chris, had not only won world titles at middleweight and super middleweight, he had actually had his final fight – the second of two epic attempts to win the WBO cruiserweight title against Carl Thompson. 

Times are different. Even at his peak in the early to mid-Nineties, Eubank Sr boxed up to six times per year. Eubank Jr has been a professional for more than a decade. 

Few careers have stalled quite so much in recent times then Eubank’s. It is three weeks short of three years since he beat James DeGale, a result that should have propelled him on to big things. Instead, he waited around until a facile win over Matvey Korobov, who injured his shoulder, and then the pandemic struck, and he found himself surplus to requirements at PBC. 

His fight with Liam Williams in Cardiff on Saturday night is a fascinating one. Both have lost their biggest fights - in the case of Eubank against Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves, while for Williams they have been against Liam Smith and Demetrius Andrade. It’s a crossroads fight in the truest sense. 

Eubank’s style has always been pleasing on the eye. He has quick hands and loads up on combinations, although tends to switch off at times too. Williams sets a higher tempo and has plenty of pop in his punches too. There has been plenty of stick between the pair, although Eubank usually has the ability to wind most of his opponents up.

One little added bit of interest is that Williams is now trained by Adam Booth, having previously been with Gary Lockett and Dominic Ingle. 

Booth was Eubank’s trainer for a short time in 2016, a promising pairing that ended in a fallout when Eubank decided to train himself instead, amid rumours that Booth was unhappy with Eubank Jr’s interference. Now Eubank seems to have found a soulmate in Roy Jones Jr as trainer. 

But this fight could be the breakthrough moment for Eubank. As No 1 in the WBA rankings, he is due a fight with their champion, Ryota Murata. He had been due to face Gennady Golovkin in December, but Covid restrictions in Japan saw that date scrapped.  

With talks about a rescheduled date seemingly reaching a standstill, Golovkin could be looking for another opponent, leaving the way clear for Eubank – if he beats Williams – to face Murata. 

“We’re on our way to cleaning up the middleweight division and Liam Williams is the next man in front of me,” Eubank said. 

“I’m going to take him out. All that matters is what's going to happen on the night and that's me standing over him and looking down and raising my fists as he gets counted out.” 

A statement Eubank likes saying these days is “business or a belt”, saying he is only interested in fights that make big money, or win him a title. If he does the business tonight, the belt could be next. 

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.