Chris Eubank Jnr – A winning combination or a combination of chaos

By Boxing News - 12/10/2015 - Comments

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By John Spandley: This weekend we will have a chance to find out if the son of an all time legend and worthy hall of famer lives up to the hype that has surrounded him since he came into the sport we have all come to love.

At the O2 arena the self titled “Next gen” will take on the wily and hard hitting Gary “Spike” O`Sullivan that will surely be a barn stormer if past performances are anything to go by.

Spike has done all he can over a number of years to try to entice Chris Eubank Jnr into a fight. Using several social media platforms to goad the youngster into a bout. I am not going to comment to much on the tactics that were used to draw Eubank Jnr into the fight as over the past couple of weeks too many media outlets have been out to discredit a fighters ability over there personal opinions.

Like the way he did it or not it was effective in turning the public eye over to a man who had already been beaten convincingly by Billy Jo Saunders prior to Eubank’s own loss.

Spike’s most impressive win was over Anthony Fitzgerald who was pole axed with a sickening uppercut from his Irish counterpart.

I do not believe that Eubank’s only loss to date can really be taken into account due to the way he fought for the first six rounds allowing Billy Jo to run away with the score cards until Jnr stepped on the gas in the 7th. Naivety played a big part in that loss as in the build up Billy stated that Chris would not last six rounds, forcing the younger lion to stand with his chin out for the first six rounds to prove a point. If Eubank Jnr goes into this fight with that same attitude then it is certainly a huge talent wasted and a long road back to acceptance in the boxing elite.

Now to get to my point on my above headline…. Chris Eubank Snr or “English” as the ever charismatic champ has now named himself has reportedly taken a slight step back into the shadows to allow a proven trainer to join the Eubank squad to take him to the next level and possibly fight the name they have been calling for a number of years, a certain GGG.

Adam Booth the current trainer of WBO Middleweight Champion Andy Lee has agreed to join the back room staff with Jnr`s fathers past trainer Ronnie Davies.

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Adam or “The dark lord” as he is known due to his outspoken nature and his hatred to the boxing establishment certainly has the credentials and the boxing know how to hone the raw skills of the undeniably natural talent that is Eubank JNR.

In the Billy Joe fight the boxing fans noticed cracks began to appear within the Eubank corner once the tide went against them with Jnr ignoring instructions when they seldom came. In my view we witnessed an inexperienced performance from the corner with “English” standing in the middle of the ring between rounds staring at his son offering no advice and also forcing his partner and sons head coach into silence several times.

It is inevitable that Mr English has rewound those tapes and maybe decided that his son needs more of a calming and tactically astute influence in his corner to aid the aging but great trainer that is Ronnie Davies.

The circus that has surrounded his son since his rise to stardom albeit great for exposure has some what delayed the youngster from climbing the boxing ladder as fast as everyone would have expected him to do with his naturally powerful hands and legendary Eubank chin.

Now Adam Booth has a proven track record when it comes to his forte of training elite boxers. He had takien David Haye to become the Unified Cruiserweight champion of the world, then working on his strength and weight to successfully clinch him a World Heavyweight Title until they fell at the last hurdle of unifying the division.

He is also known for taking the marmite character George Groves through an incredible journey again until they fell at the last hurdle. Adam could not really take the blame for this as they parted ways a few weeks before Groves VS Froch Part 1. It was transparent in Georges first performance that maybe if he stayed with his long time trainer that he would most probably have relieved the shock worn champ, but this was not meant to be.

With Eubanks Jnr`s father in the Celebrity Jungle for a big portion of the build up it would have given Booth ample time to gain a better understanding of his new fighter and will forge a relationship that most probably wouldn’t have existed if the young mans father was present.
Ronnie Davies took “English” to the pinnacles of the sport and his resume speaks for itself. To add his wise thinking and old school graft is a great additional which will go quietly unsung.

Now we have quite unusual circumstances taking place this Saturday as most of you know that Eubank SNR will be staring into the opposite corner with an old adversary that is Steve Collins. Steve never really took the public affection that fell more so to Eubank Snr and Nigel Benn in there hay days but was arguably the better fighter and destroyed Eubank with the mind games.

These factors with the Irishman’s previous triumphs over Jnr`s father may have placed a seed of doubt after the last debacle with Saunders prompting “English” to bring in a more seasoned trainer.

With all that said will the three musketeers in the young mans corner gel or will they fold? Will Snr crave the limelight and throw them off there plans? Will Jnr listen? Only time will tell…



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