By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten middleweight prospect Chris Eubank Jr. (9-0, 4 KO’s) explained recently why him and WBC Silver super middleweight champion James DeGale (14-1, 9 KO’s) have so much bad blood between them. Eubank Jr, 23, says he came over to the 27-year-old former 2008 Olympic gold medalist DeGale’s gym not long ago to spar with him, and he got the better of him in front of his dad and his friends.
After it was over, he was booted from the gym by DeGale. Because of that, Eubank Jr. says he decided to tell people what happened in that sparring session.
Eubank Jr. said to Sky Sports “I’ll probably come away with a title shot by the end of the year. It’s in my DNA to be like he was. With DeGale, I went into his gym and sparred and stayed on top of him for 8 rounds, and at the end of the 8th round, I dealt with him. Normally, I would never tell I did this or that to someone in the gym, but he was rude to me, telling me to get out of his gym. He was angry because I beat him up in front of his dad and his gym mates. I thought if you’re going to be rude to me then I’m going to tell people what exactly happened in there. When I come up to super middleweight or he comes down to middleweight, we’ll meet in the middle. It’s going to happen. When it does happen, he’s going to get exposed. The doubters and the haters, what am I going to say to them? They’re always going to come back with something. With all my fights, you’re going to see me improve with everything coming to fruition in 2013 and 2014, and I’m going to make you guys into believers.”
DeGale, #2 WBO, #4 WBC, #6 IBF, and Eubank Jr. will both be fighting on the same card in separate bouts on March 23rd at the Glow, Bluewater, Greenhithe, Kent, United Kingdom. DeGale’s opponent is rumored to be former WBA World super middleweight champion Brian Magee in what will be an interesting fight if Magee can handle the body shots.
There’s no word about who Eubank Jr. will be fighting, but I’d like to see him step it up to someone like Billy Joe Saunders, who already has said he’s interested in fighting him. I could see Eubank Jr. handling Saunders with no problems whatsoever.
Eubank Jr. looks to be the more talented fighter compared to DeGale. There’s no question that Eubank Jr. is the better athlete in the ring, and seems to have learned a great deal from his father despite not having a whole lot of experience. What Eubank Jr. is missing, however, is power. He’s just not the puncher his father was, not that Eubank Sr. was a huge puncher. But Eubanks Jr. just doesn’t have the power right now, and usually that’s something that’s already in place by the time you’re 23. If Eubank Jr. doesn’t have the power now it’s not likely he’s going to develop into a puncher later in life. However, DeGale isn’t a puncher either, and he’s ranked highly, so I can see Eubank Jr. moving up the ranks quickly based on his skills.
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