Four fights have been confirmed for the April 26 Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn undercard at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Liam Smith and Anthony Yarde leading the supporting act.
The former WBO super welterweight champion Smith, who signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing on Wednesday, will face unbeaten Irish prospect Aaron McKenna in a middleweight bout
Smith (33-4-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Eubank Jr. in January 2023 in what was a major upset victory, but fell short in the rematch eight months later. Smith was scheduled to face Josh Kelly on the Anthony Joshua-Daniel Dubois undercard, but withdrew from the bout due to illness.
Smith will end a 19-month layoff in April when he battles McKenna (19-0, 10 KOs). McKenna was one of the four remaining participants in a canceled Japanese Prizefighter tournament, which would’ve seen the winner leave with $1 million. Although he will have been disappointed that the tournament wasn’t completed, McKenna has now landed an even bigger opportunity against Smith on the biggest British fight card of the year.
Elsewhere on the lineup, Yarde and Lyndon Arthur will conclude their light heavyweight rivalry with a trilogy clash.
Arthur (24-2, 16 KOs) upset Yarde (26-3, 24 KOs) in 2020 in London to claim the WBO No. 1 ranking by splitdecision. Yarde avenged the defeat 12 months later with a conclusive fourth-round knockout.
With Yarde’s two biggest domestic rivals, Callum Smith and Joshua Buatsi, clashing with each other on the Feb. 22 Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol 2 undercard, a Yarde-Arthur trilogy was made to boost the all-British element of the Eubank-Benn show.
Also on the fight card, Cheavon Clarke will defend his British cruiserweight title against undefeated prospect Viddal Riley.
Clarke (10-1, 7 KOs), a 2020 Olympian for Team GB, lost in his quest to claim the European title last December, dropping a split-decision to Leonardo Mosquea. Riley (12-0, 7 KOs), the English champion, was supposed to face Isaac Chamberlain on the Feb. 1 Adam Azim-Sergey Lipinets undercard, but Chamberlain was forced out due to injury. Riley now faces Clarke in a domestic cruiserweight thriller.
Rounding out the show, former WBO titleist Chris Billam-Smith battles Brandon Glanton in another cruiserweight affair.
Billam-Smith (20-2, 13 KOs) won the cruiserweight strap with a unanimous decision upset of Lawrence Okolie in his hometown of Bournemouth in 2023. “CBS” managed two defenses of the belt before falling short in a unification matchup with Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez in November 2024.
Glanton (20-2, 17 KOs) earned a career-best win last time out, knocking out Aleksei Egorov in Russia. The American has been waiting for a major opportunity on the world stage, and he finally gets that against Billam-Smith on April 26th.
