Last night in his hometown of Brighton, unbeaten 140 pounder Harlem Eubank hammered out a dominant 11th round stoppage win over a game and durable Timo Schwarzkopf. With the win, Eubank, nephew of former world champion Chris Eubank Senior, won the WBO global belt. Now 19-0(8), Eubank dropped Schwarzkopf in round three and he finally got the stoppage after he scored another knockdown in round 11. Schwarzkopf, from Germany, is now 22-6(13).
The big talking point after last night’s fight was, will Eubank now get a fight with Conor Benn? Eubank Snr has been vocal in his objections to the much talked-of Conor Benn-Chris Eubank Jr fight, with Eubank Snr saying the fight should not happen as the two men are so much different in natural size, with Benn being a welterweight and, according to Eubank Snr, his son now having to drain himself and compromise his punch resistance by boiling down to 160 pounds.
Eubank Snr spoke with Boxing Social after last night’s fight, as did Harlem, and Eubank said the fight to make is Harlem Eubank Vs. Conor Benn. Eubank Snr said Harlem is a natural welterweight himself, despite the fact that he fought at 140 and won a belt at the weight last night. Eubank was most impressed with Harlem’s performance, calling him “an artist.”
“The man is an artist, so an artist fighting another young artist in Conor Benn is the fight to be made,” Eubank Snr said. “If it’s not made, the public are actually missing out. They’re being fooled. They’re being fooled into watching something which is like a fantasy fight. The weights are wrong, and the age….my son is 34 now. It’s [Eubank Jr Vs. Benn] the wrong fight, this is the right fight.”
Harlem Eubank then spoke about a potential fight between himself and Conor Benn taking place.
“[He’ll] run and hide as much as he can, because I’m a man that’s the first to stop Timo [Schwarzkopf]. He’ll know the threat after that, I can box, I can move, and if it gets up close and personal I can fight too. Conor Benn, apparently he was meant to have a seat here tonight and he didn’t show. I expect him to be hiding in the shadows, that’s the only way he’s safe.”
So, will we see Harlem Eubank fight Conor Benn instead of Eubank Jr? Which fight makes more sense? As we know, the heavily hyped Benn-Eubank Jr clash was all set for last October, only for Benn to test positive in two drugs tests. Do fight fans still want to see this so-called ‘next generation’ showdown? Eddie Hearn sure thinks so, the promoter saying the fight is “massive.”
But Eubank Snr makes a good point about the weights, Eubank Jr would be draining himself to make 160, while Benn would perhaps be adding too much weight in going up to middleweight.
One thing is sure, fans want to see more of Harlem Eubank. The 29 year old, who has been a pro since May of 2017, scored his biggest win to date last night. Might Harlem Eubank prove to be the next world champion from the Eubank family?