This past Saturday night’s boxing card at the Excel Arena in London saw Tyson Fury stop Dereck Chisora in the main event. In the co-main event, Billy Joe Saunders outpointed Chris Eubank Jr on two of the three judge’s cards to earn the win and stay undefeated. The match opened a near pick ’em fight and closed with Saunders a slight favorite at (-125).
The match saw Saunders come out and outwork Eubank Jr in the first half of the fight. Eubank closed furiously, but it was not enough to earn the win. There is already talk of a re-match, though Eubank Jr is going to be expected to get back on the winning trail, and Saunders is looking forward to a World Title shot. Eubank Jr starts to win again and Saunders captures a world title, the re-match will be very lucrative.
The WBO middleweight title is vacant and will be filled on December 13th when Matt Korobov faces Andy Lee. Saunders, who has run his record to a still perfect (21-0) will be in position to face the winner and fulfill his dream of becoming the first person from Britain’s traveler community to earn a world level belt.
For Eubank Jr, it may be time to take a page out of the book of Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He also has a legendary father who helped with his career, but Chavez Jr famously intervened with his father over his drinking asking him to stop ’embarrassing’ himself.
Eubank, Sr. asked for a $50,000 bond to protect his son at a press conference and compared the kid to ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, although the young Eubank has not fought anyone. Someone needs to tell Eubank Sr that it isn’t the 90’s anymore and thst he is embarrassing himself and his son every time he talks. By all accounts, Eubank Jr has tried to remain stoically unaffected, but when a fight is this close any mental baggage is unnecessary.
Check out the press conference that Eubank Jr no-showed:
Here is a post-fight interview with Billy Joe Saunders:
