Chris Eubank Jr defends his IBO World Super-Middleweight title against Arthur Abraham this Saturday night at the SSE Arena, Wembley, live on ITV Box Office.
The winner of the bout will enter the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) , which begins on 1st September 2017, as the third seed to face Turkish boxer, Avni Yildirim. The series will feature George Groves, Callum Smith, Juergen Braehmer and Erik Skoglund.
Eubank Jr won the title when defeating Renold Quinlan in the tenth round via stoppage back in February. A win this weekend could propel Eubank Jr to face one of Billy Joe Saunders, James DeGale or Gennady Golovkin in the future. Whilst speaking to metro.co.uk, Eubank said, “Those are still fights that I want, they should be easily made after I defeat a big name like Arthur Abraham.”
Eubank Jr, 27, has respect for his opponent but is confident of defeating the former three – time, two – weight world champion Abraham.
Speaking at a press conference, Eubank said, “Anybody that steps into the ring I have respect for, but this is my time now. This is the next generation. I have been preparing all my life to fight the best and now i’ve got the opportunity to fight one of the top super-middleweight’s in the world.”
Abraham himself was just as confident of taking down the IBO champion by stating, “I don’t really need to focus on his tactics, I’ll show you all when i’m in the ring.”
Abraham has more experience than his opponent, Eubank, with 51 fights compared to Eubank’s 25. Though 10 years older, Abraham has in ring experience against champions such as Carl Froch and Andre Ward. Eubank Jr will be competing in his most difficult fight to date, but with the prize being a share of $50 million and the Muhammad Ali Trophy, Eubank Jr will be ready.
Speaking to boxingnews, Eubank Jr explained, “It’s going good. Everything’s on track. I’m feeling strong. I’m on weight already. I’m fighting bigger fighters than myself, naturally bigger anyway. These guys are coming down from 14, 13 stone but I don’t have to go through the draining process of cutting weight. That’s a pro. These guys are bigger than me but in my opinion boxing’s all about speed. I know I’ve got a chin. I know I can take a shot. I think he’s going to go in there and rely on a knockout. Rely on big punches to try and get me out of there. I’m not worried about that tactic because I know I can take a shot. I know I have a good defence and I know for every one punch that he throws I’m going to be throwing four, five, six shots. So if you look at it from that point of view, he can’t beat me.”
Eubank Jr had social media in uproar after comparing the clash to World War II. A tweet that did not go down well with boxing fans.
Similar to how the British dealt with Germany in World War II – in our fight you are going to be obliterated @ArthurAbraham
— Chris Eubank Jr (@ChrisEubankJr) June 28, 2017
The fight will be broadcast live on ITV Box Office on Saturday 15th July 2017, from the SSE Arena, Wembley.
