Sky Sports have apologised after Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith's boxing press conference descended into chaos.
The two fighters got into what's been described as a 'homophobic and personal' spat after their recent direct messages on Instagram came up into conversation.
"You slid into my DMs," Eubank Jr said, as quoted by talkSPORT.
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"I’m used to seeing girls in my DMs, I’m not used to seeing guys.”
Smith was quick to respond.
"Chris, you go on about girls mate," he said.
"Has anybody in this room ever seen you with a girl?
“Have you got something to tell us? Because you’re 33. Do you wanna tell us something?
“Because nobody in this room has ever seen you with a woman.”
Eubank Jr appeared to be taken aback by Smith's comment.
"Listen, my private life is my private life," he replied.
"That’s irrelevant to the boxing, but I’m happy, I’m comfortable."
However, Smith wasn't let this one go.
“Do you have something you wanna tell us?” he asked again.
“It’s a very personal question to ask me directly," snapped Eubank Jr.
"You can slide in my DMs or you can do it right now.”
Smith had the final say in this particular back-and-forth, claiming he's 'not that type of way, mate' and that he likes women.
This appeared to be the end of the spat but just minutes later, Eubank Jr enraged Smith once again.
“If you wanna get dark and personal with it," he said.
"Talking about being gay and do I like girls? I’ve been told by multiple sources that you cheat on your wife on occasion."
“So glass houses mate. Let’s just relax on the personal stuff. I’d rather be gay than a cheat.”
Smith didn't take this well.
"You haven't got a missus to cheat on," he quipped.
The conversation was then interrupted and abruptly moved on from.
At the press conference's conclusion, Sky Sports presenter Anna Woolhouse apologised for the 'offensive language' and 'homophobic' remarks which had been made by both boxers.
The press conference was then removed from Sky Sports' Boxing YouTube channel.
When asked about the war of words, Eubank Jr admitted things had escalated quickly.
"Everybody reacts in different ways to getting ready to fight another man," he said, as quoted by BBC Sport.
"He's so hellbent on trying to prove he's not rattled that he just went off the rails and I had to put him in line. We both went there, it got personal. That's OK.
"Boxing is personal, fighting another man is one of the most personal things you can do. So I get it."
The pair enter the ring in Manchester on Saturday.
Topics: Boxing
James Aldred