Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith both acknowledge that Saturday's fight has become "personal" as they each made weight on Friday.
On Thursday, the pair were involved in a heated press conference when an exchange regarding an Instagram post descended into a more personal back and forth.
Such was the nature of the comments that Sky Sports issued an immediate apology and the British Boxing Board of Control has since stated that they had noted the exchange.
Twenty-four hours later, the fighters returned to make weight, both fighters posting 11st 5lbs to stay under the middleweight limit.
Attention will now turn to their showdown in Manchester with the two Britons bidding to put themselves closer to a world title opportunity.
WOW! WHAT A FINAL FACE-OFF! ⚠️
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) January 20, 2023
Eubank Jr and Smith are ready to go NOW! 🔥🔥#EubankSmith | @Boxxer | @WassermanBoxing pic.twitter.com/gvvD2kZjCW
Despite instigating the situation at Thursday's press conference, Smith claimed that Eubank had made it "personal" with his responses.
Speaking on what he said to Eubank during the face-off, the Liverpudlian said: "I said if you want to make it personal, I can make it fully personal.
"I just told Chris that he had made it fully personal on a couple of things, bringing my family into it, slandering my city Liverpool. He is in for a rude awakening tomorrow."
Eubank, who was sporting an LGBT armband during the weigh-in, responded: "I saw it in his eyes on the stage there, he doesn't want to be here. He's going to be in for a shock.
"I guess the antics in the lead-up to this fight have made me hungrier. There is a little bit more needle in it now that he has made things personal. I'm going to go out there now and enjoy the punishment that I dish out. Now it's not just business, it's personal."
Eubank is on a six-fight winning streak since losing to George Groves in February 2018, while Smith's only defeat in seven outings is a controversial loss to Magomed Kurbanov in Russia in June 2021.
Darren Plant
