Super middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. (25-1, 19 KOs) did a job in beating 37-year-old former world champion “King” Arthur Abraham (46-6, 30 KOs) by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision in front of a large crowd at the Wembley Arena in London, UK.
Eubank Jr. used a lot of uppercuts and flurries to beat the German Abraham by the scores 118-110, 118-110, and 120-108. Eubank Jr. was showboating for much of the fight, showing little in the way of respect for Abraham, who couldn’t muster enough offense to make it a fight.
Abraham wasn’t lacking in the power department. He was clearly the bigger puncher of the two. Where Abraham was deficient was in his ability to match the speed and the punch output of the 27-year-old Eubank Jr.
The defeat for Abraham puts his career in a bad spot. He needs to ask himself whether it’s worth it to continue fighting at this point. Abraham was easily beaten last year by Gilberto Ramirez. Tonight’s loss was almost as bad for Abraham. If he can’t beat Eubank Jr., who probably isn’t even the second best fighter at 168, then there’s nowhere for Abraham to go.
The win puts Eubank Jr. in the World Boxing Super Series where he’ll need to meet up with a better class of fighters than what he dealt with tonight against Abraham. George Groves and Callum Smith figure to be the main guys that Eubank Jr. will need to beat for him to capture the tournament and the $10 million that goes with it. With that kind of money, Eubank Jr. is going to need to be at his best. He was doing a lot of showboating against the slower, stationary Abraham. Eubank Jr. cannot do that against Groves and Smith. They’ll make him pay if he gets careless and overconfident against them.
In the co-feature bout, IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby (26-1, 9 KOs) turned back #1 IBF challenger Jonathan Victor “Yoni” Barros (41-5-1, 22 KOs) in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision. The scores were 119-108, 117-110, and 117-110. The 33-year-old Barros was down in round 12, courtesy of a left hand from Selby. Barros showed a good chin and survival skills in getting back up and surviving the knockdown to get out of the fight on his feet. Selby was cut earlier in the fight in the 5th from a head-butt.
Barros was too slow, and he kept getting caught with jabs and quick left-right combinations from Selby throughout the fight. Barros was landing occasionally with some powerful punches, but he wasn’t able to land with enough frequently on Selby to win more than a handful of rounds.
The victory for Selby was his third defense of his IBF title. After 2 years as the IBF champion, Selby now wants to look to fight in a unification match. He’s not likely to try and unify all the belts in the division though, as there are some very good champions in Gary Russell Jr., Leo Santa Cruz and Oscar Valdez. Those guys might be a little more than what Selby can deal with.
