By Scott Gilfoid: Fresh off his 2nd round wipe-out win over Tony Jeter (20-5-1, 14 KOs) tonight, WBA interim middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr. (20-1, 15 KOs) is ready for his next fight against #11 WBA 160lb contender Spike O’Sullivan (22-1, 15 KOs) in their scheduled fight on December 12th on the undercard of the heavyweight clash between the talented Dillian Whyte and 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Anthony Joshua at the O2 Arena in London, UK.
O’Sullivan is ranked two places higher than Jeter in the WBA’s rankings, so we know that at least there’s a chance of a slightly more interesting fight between these two than the horrible execution we saw tonight between Eubank Jr. and the 39-year-old Jeter at the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, UK. But let’s not get things twisted; it’s still going to be a mismatch.
For boxing fans who may not remember, O’Sullivan was soundly beaten by Billy Joe Saunders by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision in 2013, in losing by the scores of 120-109, 120-109 and 119-110.
Saunders won 11 of the 12 rounds in that fight, and it was not entertaining. I realize that Eubank Jr. isn’t as good as Saunders, but he’s at least good enough to potentially do the same thing to O’Sullivan that Saunders did.
“I’m ready for Spike O’Sullivan,” Eubank Jr. said via Sky Sports. “He’s been talking a lot of mess and it’s time for some punishment. Please back up these words because I’m going to be going in there like an animal and I hope you’re ready for it. Everything’s been working smoothly. There’s been no clash. It has been smooth in the changing room and as you guys saw, it was smooth up on there on the big stage. This is a taste of things to come.”
Tonight was Eubank Jr’s first fight with new trainer Adam Booth. Chris Eubank Sr. recently handed over the full controls of training Eubank Jr. to Booth. But as God awful as Tony Jeter was, Eubank Jr. could have gone out there all by himself and still beaten him. This was just a straight up mismatch from the word go.
“He’s [O’Sullivan] a bit of a showman himself,” Carl Froch said about O’Sullivan tonight on Sky Sports 1. “He bangs a bit, and he means business. He’s got the attitude – you or me and it ain’t going to be me. He’s in there to do the business. Chris Eubank Jr., being the way he is, this is setup for a really exciting fight. That fight didn’t really prove anything. The ring rust is now gone, so he’s ready for Spike O’Sullivan. Spike O’Sullivan is probably domestic level. He’s that sort of level. It’s how he dispenses with him. We’ll expect Eubank Jr. to win that. Spike O’Sullivan has different ideas. I think Chris Eubank Jr. is a different class than Spike “O’Sullivan. We’ll find out. That’s what’s exciting about boxing. I’m not afraid to call it. I’ve sparred with Chris Eubank Jr. I know his capability. I’ve been in there and I’ve shared the ring with him. I’ve seen Spike O’Sullivan. He’s a great fighter, a great entertainer. He’s a big puncher. This is one that everyone should be looking forward to,” Froch said.
I don’t see the point in Eubank Jr. fighting O’Sullivan. If Eubank Jr. really believes he’s good enough to defeat Gennady Golovkin, then he should be fighting the likes of Tureano Johnson, Arif Magomedov, Dominic Wade, Willie Monroe Jr or Antoine Douglas.
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