Chris Eubank Jr: Everything Still To Prove

Chris Eubank Jr: Everything Still To Prove

Fighters as they prepare meticulously in camp always have a plan, how they want a particular fight to go. But boxing is rarely that simple, you often need a plan B.

Chris Eubank Jr at times in his two defeats to Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves didn’t appear to have much of a plan A.

A combination of his own ego and the lack of a proper trainer obviously didn’t help, and Eubank Jr probably got what he deserved, for having that view that he was that special, too gifted that normality didn’t apply to him.

I picked Eubank Jr to beat Groves, thinking he would know why he lost to Saunders and would improve, I expected improvements that sadly didn’t materialise.

His father saying he doesn’t know if his son will beat James DeGale and not being convinced about the need for the hiring of Nate Vasquez are a concern. The comments are either for once a sense of realism or just spoken out of bitterness and a touch of resentment.

But either way, they add further intrigue to the complex story of Eubank Jr, we will get many answers at the O2 Arena.

At 29, Eubank Jr is hardly at the point of no return, but a 3rd defeat will probably forever leave him as what could have been.

Part of the problem is, he is plainly fighting in the wrong weight division, and win or lose against DeGale, sooner rather than later he will painfully learn that. If they ever fight, the fists of Callum Smith will make that point better than any written words.

Vasquez would have done what he could in camp, but fighters fight from muscle memory, repetition and usually revert to type, they do what comes naturally to them.

That is my concern for Eubank Jr, and despite picking him to beat DeGale, I have done so with little confidence. Victory may well depend on what version of DeGale shows up, which shows the doubts we have with Eubank Jr.

The fight sells itself, we don’t need a phoney narrative, and nobody can genuinely know who will win, which is just exactly how it should be.

Has DeGale got anything left, is Eubank Jr getting him at the right time, is Eubank Jr really a world-class fighter, has Vasquez made any difference whatsoever.

The odds favour Eubank Jr but he is the one with everything to prove, the one who is under the spotlight more so than DeGale.

DeGale has shown he can do it at the elite end of the sport, and you suspect if his career does conclude at the O2 he will leave the sport fairly content with his work.

For Eubank Jr, despite all the money, the cars and all the rest of the material things he owns, you get the feeling he wants something a little more satisfying from his career, or so we hope.