By Charles Brun: Shane McGuigan recommends that Chris Eubank Jr to dump his American trainer Roy Jones Jr, take time off, put muscle back on, and return to the way he used to fight earlier in his career when he was throwing combinations.
McGuigan feels that the 33-year-old former IBO super middleweight champion Eubank Jr (32-3, 23 KOs) in his present form isn’t the fighter that battled George Groves, Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan, and Nick Blackwell years ago.
Eubank Jr’s style of fighting is entirely different now, according to McGuigan. Whereas before, Eubank Jr. used to stand in the pocket, throwing combinations with mean intentions, looking to overwhelm his opponents with his volume punching, speed & power; he’s now flicking weak jabs and single punches from the outside.
In a sign of how much Eubank Jr has lost from his game, he was beaten by a faded, average fringe-level 154-lb contender, Liam Smith, on January 21st.
While the 34-year-old Liam is a solid, capable domestic-level fighter at this stage in his career, he’s not relevant in this era at 154 and would be ripped apart by the hungry sharks in the division.
Liam would be food for any of the top 10 contenders at junior middleweight, which is why it’s so pitiful that Eubank Jr lost to a fighter of his level.
These big dogs at 154 would have a field day against a limited fighter like Liam Smith:
- Jermell Charlo
- Tim Tszyu
- Sebastian Fundora
- Tony Harrison
- Charles Conwell
- Xander Zayas
- Israil Madrimov
- Brian Castano
- Danny Garcia
- Bakhram Murtazaliev
I hate to say it, but you can’t throw a guy like Liam Smith in with any of those fighters and expect him to win or even be competitive for more than a couple of rounds before he’s overpowered and outclassed.
As such, the fact that Eubank Jr lost to a fighter at the level of Liam shows that he needs a major overhaul to his fighting style and definitely a new trainer on the double.
“That’s not the same Chris Eubank Jr that boxed George Groves or the other fighters,” said Shane McGuigan to Boxing UK. He needs to get his strength back; have a bit of time off, and personally get himself away from Roy Jones.
“Roy Jones is one of my favorite fighters, but there’s a level of authority that Eubank Jr needs and a level of stiffness within his shots and tying up his guard.
“When he boxed Spike O’Sullivan or Nick Blackwell, he punched in combinations; he punched through the target. He didn’t flick his shots; he wasn’t loose on the exit. He was quite neat and tidy. Get back to that,” said McGuigan.
