By Scott Gilfoid: After having just recently signed with promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport stable, #1 WBA 160lb contender Chris Eubank Jr. (21-1, 16 KOs) has reportedly left Hearn’s promotional company. Eubank Jr. fought only twice with Hearn’s stable in beating two over-matched fodder opponents in Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan and Tony Jeter. Eubank Jr. was supposed to fight a third fight with Hearn’s stable, but that’s not going to happen now.
Apparently, the issue over Eubank Jr. leaving Hearn’s stable of fighters is because he was outbid in a purse bid by the promoter for Nick Blackwell (19-3-1, 8 KOs), Mick Hennessy. Hearn reportedly bid £205,000. It’s unclear why Hearn didn’t win the bid.
You would think that Matchroom Sport with their contract with Sky Sports would be able to win a bid for one of their most important fighters. But then again it’s hard to know how popular Eubank Jr. is at this point or how he’s seen in the big scheme of things by Hearn and his company. The Eubank Jr. vs. Blackwell fight will be put on by Hennessy early next year. I guess it’s got to be early if Eubank Jr. wants to get a shot at Jacobs at some point.
With Eubank Jr. leaving Hearn’s stable, you can rule out him fighting on April 9th for the WBA world title against Jacobs like some boxing fans were hoping.
Eubank Jr’s father Chris Eubank Sr. revealed that Eubank Jr. was released from Matchroom Sport because Hearn lost the purse bid for the fight against Blackwell for the British strap.
Team Eubank are released from the Matchroom contract because Eddie lost the purse bid 4 the British Title fight against Blackwell 2 Hennessy
— Christopher Eubank (@ChrisEubank) December 18, 2015
Personally, I wasn’t impressed at all with what I saw of Eubank Jr. in his fight against O’Sullivan last Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Eubank Jr. stopped O’Sullivan in the 7th round on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Dillian Whyte fight card. During the first three rounds of the O’Sullivan fight, Eubank Jr. appeared to be slightly hurt by some of the shots he was nailed with. He was also fighting with his mouth open and looked gassed. It was really troubling because Eubank Jr had been hyped so badly before the fight, and he was supposed to have taken care of O’Sullivan without any problems.
Eubank Jr’s win over O’Sullivan earned him the #1 WBA mandatory for WBA “regular” middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs. But before taking that fight, Eubank Jr wants to fight for the British middleweight title against Nick Blackwell first while he waits for his chance against Jacobs. It’s unclear why Eubank Jr. desires a fight against a 2nd tier fighter like Blackwell rather than staying busy by fighting a top tier contender. It seems like a complete waste of time for Eubank Jr. to be facing an easy mark for his next fight rather than someone good.
I don’t understand Eubank Jr. fighting Blackwell at all. While I do think Eubank Jr. needs a ton of improvement, as seen by his flawed performance against O’Sullivan, I don’t think fighting domestic opposition is the way to go to improve him. I think Eubank Jr. needs to face actual contenders to get ready for the Jacobs fight.
It’s crazy to think that the likes of Blackwell, O’Sullivan and Jeter is going to prepare Eubank Jr. for a dangerous talent like Daniel Jacobs. Those three fighters would prepare Eubank Jr. for another domestic level guy like John Ryder maybe, but I can’t see them preparing Eubank Jr for Jacobs.
The guys that Eubank Jr. should be fighting are fighters like Tureano Johnson, Arif Magomedov, David Lemieux, Jermall Charlo, Jermell Charlo, Erislandy Lara, Demetrius Andrade, Antoine Douglas, Dominic Wade, Willie Monroe Jr and Peter Quillin.
Yeah, I know those are talented fighters, but if Eubank Jr. isn’t ready to fight talents like them, then what do you think is going to happen to him when he gets inside the ring with Jacobs next year? I see things going badly for Eubank Jr, especially if all he’s going to do is fight the likes of those fighters.
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