Chris Eubank Jr v Arthur Abraham
The IBO super-middleweight title is on the line at Wembley Arena on Saturday night, as well as a place in the World Boxing Super Series.
Whether you class Eubank’s belt as a genuine world title or not, the Englishman is certainly among the elite fighters in this division.
After 25 professional bouts, WBO middleweight champion Billy-Joe Saunders is still the only fighter to have beaten the 27-year-old, who has finished his last 16 opponents – Saunders aside – inside the distance.
Abraham is certainly a step up in class from fighters like Nick Blackwell, Tom Doran and Ronald Quinlan, however.
The German has held world titles in two weight classes, and all but one of his losses have come against elite world champions – the exception being a disqualification against Andre Dirrell.
The younger Eubank holds a clear advantage in speed and stamina, but Abraham has power and a rock-solid chin, having only been knocked out once in his entire 51-fight career.
Despite his size, Eubank has never been a big puncher himself. His stoppage wins have generally come as a result of an accumulation of punches, rather than one knockout shot.
He is the classier boxer of this pair, and it’s no surprise to see that he’s the favourite.
This fight should go deep into the later rounds, though, and a decision win for the champion is the likeliest outcome at .
If you’re in search of value, though, a late stoppage win for Eubank is your best bet.
The Englishman has a knack of getting his opponents out of the ring despite his lack of power, so backing him to eventually overwhelm Abraham and win in rounds nine to 12 – at our enhanced price of – is definitely worth doing.
Lee Selby v Jonathan Victor Barros
The main event isn’t the only world title fight on Saturday night’s card.
IBF featherweight champion Selby is defending his belt against Jonathan Victor Barros, who he was scheduled to fight in January before a medical issue forced the Argentine to pull out.
Selby has beaten Fernando Montiel, Eric Hunter and Andoni Gago since winning the title against Evgeny Gradovich in May 2015, but he is yet to face an opponent that could push him to the top of a card like this.
And while Barros is also a former world champion, the 33-year-old is past his prime and has only fought outside of South America four times, losing on three occasions.
‘The Welsh Mayweather’ – one of the slickest boxers in the featherweight division – will surely come through this challenge unscathed and set up bigger unification fights.
Given that he’s only won by knockout nine times in 25 fights, however, a points win is definitely the best bet at .
Insider Knowledge
What is Chris Eubank Jr’s ring walk song?
Eubank Jr walks out to the ring to Dr Dre’s Still D.R.E from the 1999 album 2001.
On his professional debut against Kirilas Psonko, he emulated his father by walking out to Tina Turner’s Simply the Best.
