Chris Eubank Jnr (23-1, 18 KOs) will contest the IBO Super-Middleweight title against Renold Quinlan (11-1, 7 early), who won the title with a second-round knockout victory over Daniel Geale in October . Eubank was heavily linked with a fight against Kazakh powerhouse Gennady Golovkin, but has chosen to move up weight class and is favourite to triumph over Quinlan at Kensington’s Olympia venue on February 4 . But where does a win over this formerly little known boxer leave Eubank in the Super-Middleweight division?
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The WBC were quick to rank Eubank at seventh after the fight with Quinlan was announced, this was surprising as he was yet to make his debut at the weight. Eubank fights with a very physical style and likes to bully his opponents, and has often enjoyed a size advantage over them. At Super middleweight, he will be dealing with far larger opponents, going up to 6ft 3 in the case of Callum Smith.
Another worry for Eubank is his recent statement that he does not have a full-time trainer. This is a highly complacent position for him to take, particularly as he is now at a higher weight where he will rely more heavily on his boxing skill and will be less able to manhandle his opponents.
That said, if Eubank Jnr was to acquire a full time trainer then I think there are some exciting match-ups to be made at 168lbs. Team Eubank has already been vocal about potential George Groves and James DeGale fights, and while the Eubanks’s actions have to be taken with a grain or two of salt, these fights certainly look at lot closer to fruition.
Both of these fights have potential to be exciting match-ups, with a Callum Smith fight also likely to generate large public interest. The British Super middleweight division is highly competitive and each of the names mentioned could be world titlists by the time they face Eubank.
Badou Jack has vacated his WBC title to move up to 175lbs, leaving Callum Smith to fight for the vacant belt, which is likely to be against Anthony Dirrell. George Groves is set to contest the WBA ‘Super’ Super middleweight World title against Fedor Chudinov this year.
Eubanks has the skill to mix it with most of the Super-Middleweights in the division, and with DeGale showing weaknesses against Badou Jack I believe Eubank has the chance to pick up the IBF title if he manages to secure a fight with ‘Chunky’. Either way, Eubank’s arrival could create some interesting match-ups at Super-Middleweight in a far more open division than middleweight, which is dominated by Gennady Golovkin.
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