Chris Eubank Jr headlines a bill at Wembley Arena this Saturday night, taking part in his second contest of 2021 with a twelve round assignment at middleweight against Germany’s Anatoli Muratov, who is stepping in for his countryman, Sven Elbir, who tested positive for COVID-19 during fight week.
Another new era is ushered in for the sport, as Sky Sports team up with Ben Shalom and his BOXXER model, to provide top class UK bills following Eddie Hearn and Matchroom’s move to DAZN, starting with Eubank Jr against Muratov.
Eubank Jr (30-2, KO22) has eyes on the likes of Gennady Golovkin and Demetrius Andrade, as well as a rematch with his once conqueror Billy Joe Saunders.
The Brighton man has had a stop-start last couple of years, and is now back at middleweight under the tutelage of the great Roy Jones Jr.
Eubank Jr had a couple of years at super middleweight, winning the IBO title, and then losing in the semi-final of the World Boxing Super Series on the scorecards to George Groves, which was also a shot at the WBA ‘Super’ belt.
The 32-year-old then routed James DeGale on points to regain the vacant IBO strap, and then moved down to win the WBA interim middleweight belt, stopping an injured Matt Korobov in two.
That was in December 2019 and Eubank Jr has fought once since, taking a wide win over ten against Marcus Morrison in May.
Elbir was hardly an inspired choice of opponent in the first place, but Muratov (24-2-1, KO17) looks like he will pose less of a threat than his fellow German.
Born in Kazakhstan, Muratov has boxed in small halls all over Europe in a career that began in 2012.
The 33-year-old has been stopped each time he has been defeated, his last a sixth round knockout defeat to the then 5-4 Philipp Kolodziej in 2014.
He is unbeaten in 13 since, ranked at seven with the WBA. Muratov was last out just days ago, knocking out Gyorgy Varju inside a round.
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Prediction: Eubank Jr will want to make a statement here and needs to, as anything less than a knockout win will see his chances of a world title shot hampered.
I don’t expect him to disappoint against Muratov, and once he puts his nasty combination punches together, he can remove the visitor from battle within three or four frames, maybe even sooner.
Avanesyan defends European belt
The chief support sees a real talent in hard-hitting David Avanesyan (27-3-1, KO15), and the Russian defends his European welterweight title for a fourth time against former British and Commonwealth title challenger, Liam Taylor (23-1-1, KO11).
Avanesyan has flourished since joining forces with trainer, Carl Greaves, and is targeting the top names at the weight.
The 33-year-old failed in a bid for the WBA world title in 2017, losing on the cards to Lamont Peterson, and was stopped in six a year later by Egidijus Kavaliauskas, but is since on a run of four straight wins, beginning with back-to-back knockout wins against Kerman Lajarraga in nine and one rounds respectively, both on away soil to win the European crown.
After a first round knockout of Jose del Rio, Avanesyan then turned in a superb performance in his last fight in February, bullying the talented Josh Kelly to a first defeat in six rounds.
Before Avanesyan looks at the leading lights at ten stone seven, he must deal with Taylor, who is unbeaten in 13 since a 2015 points loss to Tyrone Nurse.
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Middleton’s Taylor was unfortunate in his bid for British and Commonwealth belts in November 2019, when he dropped Chris Jenkins in the second, before the Welshman was cut and the fight was declared a technical draw. Taylor was last out in July, knocking out Tommy Broadbent inside a round.
Prediction: Avanesyan is a powerful and spiteful puncher, and it would take a monumental effort for Taylor to make a dent in him. David is set for a big year ahead, and I don’t see him slipping up, and he can score a big stoppage win here before the halfway mark.
Riakporhe returns
Richard Riakporhe (11-0, KO8) makes a welcome return, and the London-based cruiserweight takes a scheduled ten rounder against Poland’s Krzysztof Twardowski (9-2, KO6), after an absence of nearly two years.
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Riakporhe was last seen in December 2019, outscoring Jack Massey to win the vacant British title, but a hand injury has kept him out for a lengthy period of time.
Prediction: Twardowski is on a run of four straight wins, but against no real opposition, and he shouldn’t cause Riakporhe too many problems, and, after a feeling out round or two, he can stop the visitor inside four.
Lawal clashes with Ward
Also at cruiserweight, a tasty looking clash between Mikael Lawal (13-0, KO7) and Steven Ward (13-1, KO4), takes place over a scheduled ten in what is a British title eliminator.
Lawal is an Ultimate BOXXER winner, impressively defeating unbeaten David Jamieson and Damien Chambers along the way, but hasn’t been past six.
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Ward is making his second appearance since moving up in weight, after a one round loss to Ricards Bolotniks in December 2019.
Prediction: Lawal should have a little too much for the Irishman, and can win around halfway here.
Udofia, Brown on undercard
Luton-based middleweight Linus Udofia (16-0, KO8), last seen defending his English title against John Harding Jr, should be able to get an early win against Albanian, Xhuljo Vrenozi (17-3, KO4), who has been stopped twice in three defeats, and hasn’t been past six. This is another set for ten.
The final ten rounder on the card is at super middleweight, where Jamal Le Doux (8-1, KO4) meets unbeaten Londoner, Germaine Brown (9-0, KO3).
Brown was last out in Belarus in October 2020, taking a wide points win over eight against the faded Dmitrii Chudinov, and Le Doux is on a run of three straight stoppage wins. I lean towards Brown to take a tight win on the cards.
Portsmouth’s Ebony Jones makes her professional debut, and she will likely need all four rounds to take her bantamweight contest against the tough Bec Connolly (3-10, KO0).
Big-punching super welterweight, Joe Pigford (17-0, KO16), is also on the bill, and there is a debut for Matty Harris at heavyweight.
