By Scott Gilfoid: Chris Eubank Jr. (25-1, 19 KOs) will be defending his IBO super middleweight title this Saturday night against unbeaten Avni “Mr. Roboto” Yildirim (16-0, 10 KOs) in a 12 round fight in the World Boxing Super Series 168 lb. tournament at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle, in Stuttgart, Germany.
The 28-year-old Eubank Jr. sees himself as the future of boxing. It’s unclear if he’s that kind of talent. But at Eubank Jr’s age, he’s probably about as good as he’ll ever be. Eubank Jr. is going to need to show that he’s got the ability to compete with the big dogs in the 168 lb. division, because he’s been matched softly thus far.
Eubank Jr’s opponent for Saturday, the 26-year-old Yildirim probably doesn’t have enough talent to tell us much about how good Eubank Jr. is. Yildirim is like a younger, taller version of Arthur Abraham. Eubank Jr. beat Abraham by a 12 round unanimous decision last summer on July 15 at the Wembley Arena in London, England. Abraham had the power, but he didn’t have the hand speed or more importantly the work rate to beat Eubank Jr. He was overwhelmed with the high volume punch output from Eubank Jr. in that fight.
Yildirim could wind up in the same shoes as Abraham if he doesn’t go after Eubank Jr. and try and KO him as fast as possible. Abraham seemed too discouraged by the 4th and give up. It looked like Abraham wasn’t even trying to win the fight I the second half of the contest. His trainer should have pulled him out of the fight when it was clear that he couldn’t win and wasn’t trying to put in some effort to get the win. Abraham, 37, fought like a shot fighter, making Eubank Jr. look better than he actually is.
“I am the next generation, the future of boxing. On Saturday I will terminate Yildirim, the so-called Turkish Rambo,” said Eubank Jr. “Before I win the ‘Ali Trophy’ in May next year, I’ll enter an arena on a Harley just like my father!”
There isn’t much video of Yildirim to know how good this guy is. All you can say is the fight with Eubank Jr. will show whether Yildirim can step it up another level to compete with Eubank Jr. because he could be outclassed in this fight from the world go. Eubank Jr. could easily destroy Yildirim. We’re going to find out quickly whether Yildirim can step his game up from the poor fighters that he’s been matched against to fight a guy at Eubank Jr’s level.
I see Eubank Jr. as a product of how much the super middleweight division has gone downhill in the last few years since Andre Ward moved up in weight to 175 and Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler have retired. Ward recently retired as well recently. The talented fighters are now gone from the super middleweight division. What’s left are flawed fighters like Eubank Jr., Yildirim, Callum Smith, George Groves, Jamie Cox, Gilberto Ramirez, David Benavidez, James DeGale and Tyron Zeuge. None of these guys would be world champions if Froch, Ward and Kessler where in their primes and still fighting.
Eubank Jr. has a chance to win the World Boxing Super Series, but it doesn’t say much about him. The contestants in the WBSS are mediocre and lacking in talent for Eubank Jr. to accomplish much by winning the WBSS tournament.
“This is the first fight for me in this tournament and I am here to make a statement,” Eubank Jr. said. “I am the man; I’m the man to beat.”
Eubank Jr. will likely overdo it on Saturday night in trying to impress the boxing fans by showboating, and posing after throwing punches like he’s done in the past. If Eubank Jr. tries too hard to make a statement, he’ll give Yildirim a chance to land one of his big shots to score a knockout victory.
I disagree that Eubank Jr. is the man to beat in the WBSS. I would have to consider George Groves as the No.1 seed in the tournament. He’s got most experience, the better size and the best punching power by far of anyone in the tourney. Groves’ stamina isn’t go good, and neither is his punch resistance. Never the less, if Groves connects with one of his big right hands on the chin of Eubank Jr. or Callum Smith, I suspect they’ll go to sleep for a little while. I don’t think either of them will be able to stand up to Groves’ power.
They call Yildirim “Mr. Robot”, and it’s easy to see why. He’s slow, and he fights in a mechanical manner, as if he’s got mechanical joints in his limbs. Eubank Jr. is the much smoother fighter of the two with his movements. Yildirim is a slow guy that looks to land his big shots on his opponents. He’s not a knockout puncher though. Yildirim is more of a fighter that pounds out decisions against weak opposition.
These are the notable opponents Yildirim has faced during his 3-year pro career:
• Marco Antonio Periban
• Schiller Hyppolite
• Aaron Pryor Jr.
• Janne Forsman
• Glen Johnson
The win for Yildirim over Glen Johnson came against a former world title holder. However, Johnson was in his mid-40s when Yildirim fought him. It’s unlikely that Yildirim would have beaten a prime Johnson.
”There will be no mercy for Yildirim,” said Eubank Jr. ”I am here to win; I am not here to make friends. I am not here to look pretty and be a celebrity; I am here in this tournament to become the champion.”
Eubank Jr. will be looking to pour it on with his combinations once Yildirim starts wearing down by the midpoint in the fight. The referee is going to need to keep a close eye on the action to make sure it doesn’t get too out of hand. Yildirim could get hurt if Eubank Jr. is allowed to tee off with his shots against his hapless opponent.
”I think it is a great match-up,” said Eubank Jr. ”Styles make fights and the reason I picked this man at the Draft Gala is that he is a fighter. He comes forward. He is very active, he is very open. He takes risks, which he will pay for this fight. I can’t wait!” said Eubank Jr.
At least Eubank Jr. admits that he picked Yildirim as his first opponents in the World Boxing Super Series. It’s easy to see why Eubank Jr. picked Yildirim. He’s an exact copy of Arthur Abraham, except he’s taller and younger. Other than that, Yildirim is the same type of slow, plodding fighter that Abraham is. Eubank Jr. likes to fight really slow guys.
Look at the slow guys that Eubank Jr. has done well against in the past:
• Arthur Abraham
• Gary O’Sullivan
• Tom Doran
• Dmitry Chudinov
• Tony Jeter
• Nick Blackwell
• Ivan Jukic
• Stepan Horvath
Eubank Jr. has fought a lot of really slow and weak opponent since he turned pro in his 6-year pro career. That’s the main reason why it’s nearly impossible to tell how good Eubank Jr. He’s nobody other than Billy Joe Saunders, and he lost to him in 2014. Saunders doesn’t look good now. When Saunders beat Eubank Jr. three years ago, he didn’t do anything special. Saunders just worked hard in the fight and took advantage of Eubank Jr. standing and posing so much after throwing punches.
“I have a goal. I have a challenge that I have to complete and that is to win the Muhammad Ali Trophy and prove that I am the best in the world.” said Eubank Jr.
The winner of the WBSS tournament still won’t be the best in the world at super middleweight. There are still other fighters that the winner of the tournament would need to fight. Gilberto Ramirez would still be out there, as would Tyron Zeuge, David Benavidez and Andre Dirrell.
Prediction
Eubank Jr. will treat this fight just like he did his last one against Abraham. Yildirim is a younger, rawer version of Abraham. Eubank Jr. have far too much speed for Yildirim to be able to compete with him on an even playing field. If Yildirim were willing to walk through Eubank Jr’s power shots in a Rocky Marciano type of way, he might have a chance of winning if he could hurt him with a shot or wear him down with the pressure. I just don’t see it happening. As such, I see Eubank Jr. wearing Yildirim down with a mass accumulation of blows and eventually getting a stoppage by round 10. The referee will need to step in to halt the contest when Yildirim starts taking too much punishment in the later rounds.
