There’s a huge opportunity for Chris Eubank Jr to make waves in the middleweight division and set up some world title fights at the end of this year and if not the early part of 2022 on Saturday.
Eubank has signed with UK promoter BOXXER and now has the major platform of Sky Sports behind him, with the carrot of a rematch with Billy Joe Saunders, if the southpaw decides to fight again, following his defeat to Saul Alvarez.
Late Replacement Unlikely to Cause Upset
Before that, Eubank takes on Anatoli Muratov on Saturday at Wembley’s SSE Arena and it should be a quick night of work against the late replacement, who is in the ring instead of Sven Elbir following his positive coronavirus test.
The 32-year-old gets a rough ride due to his confident demeanour, and while he may not quite have the skills to live up to the billing he gives himself, he is certainly a tough fighter.
‘Next Gen’ has been set some difficult assignments in his career against the likes of Saunders, George Groves, Arthur Abraham and James DeGale, and at the age of 32 he does need to make a move.
Expect Impressive Next Gen Win
Eubank got the better of DeGale and ‘Chunky’ retired after his unanimous decision defeat.
Next Gen put in a good show in defeat against Groves and Saunders and he is likely to want to make an impact before he moves into the latter stages of his career.
Eubank has been well matched for his first fight under BOXXER’s promotion and there isn’t likely to be much coming back from Muratov.
The German has won 16 of his last 17 fights, but they have been low-key bouts and he has two defeats and a draw on a pretty mediocre card.
Muratov is likely to be in survival mode from the opening bell and his defences are unlikely to hold up against the workrate and punch volume of Eubank.
Muratov Record Doesn’t Tell Full Story
The 33-year-old has stopped 17 of his opponents in the 24 victories he has managed as a professional but has found his rivals difficult to deal with whenever he has slightly stepped up in class.
The two defeats on the German’s card came back in 2013 and 2014, but the last three opponents that Muratov has been in with had lost a combined 28 fights, and that tells you all you need to know about the level he is operating at.
Eubank is 1/100 to win the bout and that fight price clearly reflects what is expected to happen on Saturday night. It’s also worth bearing in mind that 11/1 Muratov’s preparation for this fight isn’t what it would have been if the German had had more notice.
Hove hitter Eubank isn’t the type of fighter to cruise against opponents that he is dominating and he could have an early night. It’s 50/59 that the fight goes under 3.5 rounds and that is worth a punt, while rounds two and three are the 4/1 favourites in the round betting.
*All odds correct at time of writing.