Eubank Jr. wrecks Andre Ward says Chris Sr.

By Boxing News - 01/28/2017 - Comments

Image: Eubank Jr. wrecks Andre Ward says Chris Sr.

By Allan Fox: Chris Eubank Sr. says his son unbeaten Chris Eubank Jr. (23-1, 18 KOs) beats IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Andre “SOG” Ward (31-0, 15 KOs). Eubank Sr. says that they’re looking to get a fight against Ward, because he believes that he “couldn’t live” with Eubank Jr.

Eubank Sr. notes that Ward threw only 35 punches in the 3rd round in his last fight against former 175lb champion Sergey Kovalev last November. That’s proof in Eubank Sr’s mind that Ward couldn’t deal with the younger 27-year-old Eubank Jr., because he throws three times as many punches than that per round.

“Andre Ward is coming over to commentate,” said Eubank Sr. to ITV about Eubank Jr’s fight against Quinlan. “He’s a light heavyweight. Junior can give away six to seven pounds to him, and stick wreck him, Andre Ward. We’re chasing him as well. We’re looking to clean the plate at middleweight. At middleweight, we’re only looking at one guy, Golovkin.”

Eubank Jr. is going to need to get in line if he wants a fight against Ward, because Kovalev will be next if Ward doesn’t retire. After that, Ward will need to fight the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Sullivan Barrera fight. It’s going to be a really difficult year for Ward if he doesn’t hang up his gloves and retire from boxing.

One of the reasons Ward only threw 35 punches in the 3rd round against Kovalev was because he was grappling with him on the inside. Ward stopped fighting Kovalev after getting knocked down by him in round 2.

Ward spent largely the last 9 rounds holding and wrestling Kovalev on the inside. That was clearly Ward’s Plan-B strategy for the fight, and it was effective. It was only effective though because the referee allowed the wrestling instead of taking points off. Eubank Jr. would very likely have to deal with similar wrestling/holding from Ward if they fought each other, and it’s doubtful that he would do any better than Kovalev in trying to pry Ward off of him.

The only guy that has a chance in the 175lb division in handling Ward on the inside is Beterbiev, and that’s because he’s able to throw short punches with so much power. He’s also very strong in the upper body. Ward may never fight Beterbiev though. It’s hard to imagine Ward taking that fight for a number of reasons. One, the danger is high against Beterbiev. The money won’t be that good because Beterbiev isn’t a star yet.

In speaking about the Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev fight, Eubank Sr. said this about Ward, “When he fought Kovalev, in the 3rd round, he only threw 35 punches. That means he can’t live with Junior. He can’t live with him, because he’s throwing three times as much. You cannot negotiate with speed. You can negotiate with power,” said Eubank Sr.

Eubank Jr. says he can beat middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, and he wants to fight him in the future.

“I know I can beat the guy,” said Eubank Jr. about Golovkin. “Golovkin’s power, that’s what he brings to the table. I’ve sparred against heavyweights, massive guys that Golovkin wouldn’t punch harder. The fact that he can punch doesn’t affect me. He doesn’t scare me. Once you look past that, what can he beat me on? He’s not faster than me. His defense is not better than mine. This is a man that’s not hard to hit. Boxing is hit and not getting hit. That’s my philosophy. He doesn’t share that. It’s a huge fight in the future,” said Eubank Jr.

Eubank Jr. has a fight this Saturday night on February 4 against International Boxing Federation super middleweight champion Renold Quinlan (11-1, 7 KOs) at the Olympia in London, England. Eubank Jr. is the favorite to win.