‘He looked like a crackhead’ – Johnny Nelson fears Chris Eubank Jr will suffer same knockout fate against Liam Smith unless new weight is agreed

Chris Eubank Jr will get knocked out again unless he pushes for his rematch against Liam Smith to take place at a different weight, warns former world champion Johnny Nelson.

The Brighton fighter was stopped in spectacular fashion in Manchester in January with Smith flooring his rival in the fourth round before the contest was waved off.

The bitter feud will continue with Eubank Jr confirming on Tuesday he has triggered a rematch clause with May a possible date for their second meeting.

Smith, a former world champion at light-middleweight, was the man who left his comfort zone to move up and fight at middleweight for that first showdown just under four weeks ago. But the manner in which Eubank Jr was taken apart that night has prompted fears his days campaigning at 160lbs are over.

Last year, his father and British boxing legend Chris Eubank Snr shared his grave concerns over his son shedding weight ahead of the doomed showdown with Conor Benn which was scheduled to be fought at a catchweight on 157lbs.

While Eubank Jr is a seasoned veteran at middleweight, Nelson fears the 33-year-old is no longer able to operate effectively there, believing he was left resembling a ‘crackhead’ when he stepped on the scales for the final weigh-in ahead of the first Smith fight after a draining weight-cut.

And the former cruiserweight champion believes that unless the weight is changed, Eubank Jr will suffer exactly the same fate, adding he is defying his father’s concerns which have led to a falling out between the pair.

‘Chris can do it [make the middleweight limit] but he can’t box to the ability he thinks he has there,’ Nelson told Metro.co.uk.

‘And his dad has been telling him that. Tellingly, that’s why his dad hasn’t been in his corner